Re-Wind: One More (Final) Try
by Epic Otaku Cherry
Summary: Things are looking bleak in the war. With the last of Itachi's strength, after he stopped the Edo Tensei and gave Sasuke his gift, he sent Sakura and some others back in time to stop history from repeating itself. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1: Argument & a Dream Invasion

**Friday, January 11th, 2013**

**Yeah, my new story. I have Writer's Block, so I decided to start posting this instead of leaving all my DoOver fans hanging.**

**For those who think it's exactly like DoOver, it's not. It has few similarities (which will be explained, but it's mostly the scrolls, for those who have read DoOver) but from there, it becomes different. Quite.**

**So, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Matsuri, Karin, Sai, Yamato, and Tsunade (as well as Jiraiya's soul) return to the past. However, for now, the only time-travelers introduced (that I've written in the chapters so far, since I have 3 chapters written) are Sakura, Ino, and Sai. **

**Yamato, Jiraiya, Karin, Matsuri, and Temari won't show up 'til much later. We'll talk to and about them, but they won't physically be...here, I guess.**

_Couples:_** EVENTUAL SasuSaku, eventual NaruHina, but sooner than most SaIno, eventual ShikaTema, eventual GaaMatsu, eventual but hopefully sooner than some NejiTen, eventual/some SuiKa, some AsuKure, some, and if you want KakashixHanare (from the filler ep in Konoha History Arc), and eventual maybe Ita?, and mention of some couples that I can't tell you about yet.  
**

**_Dedication:_ **aalc95**, for being the only one to review chapter 19 of DoOver. I guess everyone still thinks I'm on vacation...  
Also, to **AnimeLoverHaruka**, who I actually know outside of fanfiction. Read her stories, guys! Oh, and to **Krystal Kitsune Uchiha**, who's going to adopt some of my...abandoned stories. I hate to abandon anything, but I just couldn't write them. Also to, **Jasmine-.-Momo-chan**, my very dear friend (though sadly, I only know her on fanfiction) who I haven't PMed in a while. I hope she's okay...**

**_Disclaimer:_ Neji's going to do it. For those of you who read the recent Naruto chapters...I think you know why. For those who haven't...well, I love Neji to death. **

**Neji: Epic Otaku Cherry never has, doesn't, and never will own Naruto.**

**Me: If I did, some things would be different. Like the MOST RECENT FUCKING CHAPTERS. Yeah.**

**READ MY LOVELIES~!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Argument & Dreams

**Sakura POV**

"It's alright now, Sakura-san. You need to rest. You can take over in the morning, it's already midnight." Ayumi, a Kumo healer informed me.

I had just finished exacting a surgery on a samurai who had taken a Fuuma Shuriken to the stomach, as well as a couple burns. _Ouch._

"Thank you, Ayumi-san. Have someone wake me at dawn." I answered. "Will do," she replied.

I walked back to the (medic-nins') tent and before I knew it, I found myself staring at the top of my tent, in my bed, ready for sleep to take me. Then I heard a rustle near the entrance of my tent. Expecting the worst, I prepared 2 kunai -that I keep under my pillow- to take on any unexpected visitors.

"Whoa, whoa! Cool it, Sakura. It's just me." I recognized the voice.

"What are you doing Kaka-sensei? I was just about to sleep." He chuckled, settling his rear on the edge of my cot.

"Just seeing you to sleep, Sakura. Is that a crime?" I could see him trying to smile under his mask; I didn't buy it.

Sighing, I asked. "What is it, Kakashi? You want to tell me something; what?" I watched as his face turned grim.

"Sakura…"

"...It's about Sasuke-kun, isn't it?" It was impossible to hide the sadness in my voice.

"Yeah…one of the shinobi saw Sasuke and decided to spy on him. He seems even more determined to destroy Konoha than before. He was with 3 men- a tall one with orange hair, one with white hair and Zabuza's Kubikiribocho…and Orochimaru. -That guy never seems to want to die, does he?- Luckily, the ninja that spied on him escaped before Sasuke could detect him."

I looked down, knowing where my sensei was going with this. It's nothing new. _Although that whole Orochimaru thing is. I thought he was dead. I _was _told that Anko was captured by Kabuto…and she still had her curse seal…maybe he used that to revive Orochimaru. But why's Sasuke working with him?_

"Sakura…I want you and Naruto to stop going after him. Or you, at least. You know how Sasuke is; once he has his mind set on something, there's no changing it. The Sasuke you two knew is dead, and he's not coming back. This Sasuke merely a pawn to …'Tobi'...," Gai-sensei told me about who Tobi really was and how he became "Tobi", and I could only imagine how that must feel to Kakashi. "...whether he knows it or not. He's only falling deeper and deeper into insanity and darkness Sakura; give up before the two of you are hurt more."

I clenched my fists, trying to control this wave of anger that came over me from his words. I couldn't help it, and –No, didn't _want _to help it– I blew up. _I'm fucking _**sick**_ of hearing this! _"How can you say that?! I thought you wanted Sasuke-kun to come back, too? How dare you tell me to give up on him! You taught him personally; he was a son to you! And you just give up on him? I can't believe you! I already gave up on it once, and tried to get Naruto to also, but I know better now! I refuse to let him go again!"

"Sakura-"

"Don't _'Sakura'_ me! You know I couldn't give up on him even if I wanted to! I tried to put him out of his misery and failed! I was always the weak one on the team! The one behind **_all of you_**!" I was shouting and couldn't control myself. _I can't take this anymore!_

"Now, Sakura lis-"

"You, Naruto, Sasuke-kun, even Sora**(1)** and Sai-kun! I was always left behind! You always kept things from me, saying it was to 'protect' me! Well fuck them! I know you're hiding something from me, sensei! I know it's about Sasuke-kun and that you, Yamato-taichou, Naruto, and even _Sai_-kun are in on it!"**(2)**

Even being as hot-tempered as I am, in all my 16-and-a-half years of life, I have never blown up like this. Ever.

It felt good, though.

Kakakshi-sensei just waited for me to finish, knowing it would be pointless to say anything. And that I was right. _That bastard..._

"If that's all you have to say Kakashi, I'd appreciate it if you left me to sleep." I crawled back into bed, seeing as I got out when I was yelling at Kakashi. I pulled the covers above my head, making it clear that I wanted to be left alone.

I heard him sigh. I felt him get off my bed and lay his hand where my head was, stroking it softly.

And as I felt myself being pulled to sleep, I heard him whisper, softly with a small hint of regret and sadness, "I'm sorry, Sakura."

Then, I let sleep take me away to a place, _**usually**_, blissfully different than reality.

* * *

_"Wait a second, aren't I asleep?"  
__**Yup, and it's me, Inner, by the way.  
**__"Inner, where are we? All I see is darkness.'  
__**I don't know.**_

_It was me, and my Inner's voice echoing around me, in...darkness._

_"Sakura-san…Sakura-san…hurry up."_

_Wait a minute. I knew that voice…_

_"Itachi!? What do you want? How did you get in my head! Shouldn't you be gone? The Edo Tensei is gone!"_

_He appeared in front of me, and I saw his host body slowly peeling away. Just like the bodies of Haku and Zabuza. So I was right on my speculation of whether or not he was revived._

_"Just stay still."_

_"Wait! What are you doi-" He placed 2 fingers on my forehead and I suddenly found myself looking through-…are these memories?_

**_These are Itachi's memories! But why does he want us to see these?  
_**_"I don't know, Inner. But let's just watch."  
__**Alright.**_

_Inner and I watched through Itachi's eyes as a war raged; the Elders of the Council order the massacre of his family; fighting Sasuke-kun; and finally, his encounter with Sasuke again along with his fight against Kabuto. And I also something unexpected: Itachi spying on Danzo as he and Orochimaru looked over Danzo's hidden arm; the arm that was covered in Sharingan._

_I even saw "Tobi's" identity, and his history of how he became, "Tobi", from the day he "died", to the day he became who he is now. _Obito? Kakashi-sensei's teammate? And Kakashi-sensei…killed Rin? He has to have a good reason…he was crying while he did it and it seemed the enemy ninja were desperate for her body…so it was to make sure they never got her? But why'd they want her in the first place? Only Kakashi knows…  
**And Obito was clearly set up – he walked into a trap. Madara seemed too adamant on keeping him underground, and suddenly he lets him up saying Kakashi and Rin were there?** Surely, the two must have passed over them multiple times, with war raging. Madara had to have known what Obito would see would keep him on his side…

_Lastly, I saw Itachi's fight with Kabuto, Sasuke with him. His last words to his brother. I almost cried at them. _"You don't have to forgive me...No matter what you decide to do from now on...I will always love you."**(3)**

_I felt myself return into the black abyss of wherever-the-hell-I-was before and Itachi remove his fingers._

_I looked up at him, now feeling terrible. "Itachi-san…I'm _so _sorry. I can't believe I…I knew something was up with the story of the Massacre…Tsunade-shishou and some others and I always knew the Elders, or at least Danzo, had gone behind Konoha's back but we never found proof of their wrong-doing… I can't believe I tried to kill Sasuke-kun…if I knew this I wouldn't have-….now I understand why he wants to destroy Konoha…" _

_Itachi stopped me before I could continue my babbling. "By the looks of things, this war isn't going to end very well." I snapped my head back up at him, wondering where he was going with this and the sudden change of subject…more or less._

_"You're right. The original Madara is beat the Kages, the White Zetsu clones never seem to end and no one knows where Black Zetsu is…though the revived are all gone - besides you, obviously. Tsunade-sama, according to Katsuyu, has her body split in half by a tree trunk summoned by Madara and is using the last of her chakra to heal the other Kages. There's no way she can survive that." I replied, trying not to cry at the thought of losing my second mother and mentor._

_"I have one last resort, but it's going to take a lot of strength and your complete cooperation."_

_Now I was _officially_ curious. "What do you mean? What is it?"_

_"I'm sending you back to the past. With others. I want to change the course of history and make it so Otouto never went after that snake. And to stop 'Tobi' early."_

_I was shocked. "No offense, but how do you plan to do that? I don't remember there being such thing as a jutsu that can send you to the past! And if it did, it'd likely cost a life, or more! And who are the others you mentioned?"_

_He looked perfectly calm. **Damn these Uchihas. How do they **_**do **_**that?** "I found it on a forbidden scroll during one of my Akatsuki missions. Yes, it will cost the user's life, but I'm dying anyway and my past self will know everything and be alive. So no harm done. When you arrive in the past, you will be in your old body with your…Inner with all the memories of the future. You will each also have a scroll with you that will magically never disappear from you, as best I could explain it. _**(4) **

**"**_Most of your chakra will be sealed to fit the amount you had in the past, and you might have to relearn most of the jutsu you know now. Some things, mainly minor will be changed when you go back. Results of most battles will stay the same, especially if they had a big impact in the future. Meaning events like the Chunin Exams and the Invasion. I think so, at least._

_"The more you train, the more chakra will be unsealed. However, don't strain yourself when you first get back. I don't know what might happen. "_

_Before he could explain any further, I interrupted to make him answer the question he seemed to have avoided. "What about the others that are going with me? Who are they?"_

_"Since I can't send many with…exceptional chakra and…abilities - no offense- but I also need people with close ties with people who greatly affected the present, I am sending you, Yamanaka, the Hyuga girl, the Kazekage's student, his sister, Karin from my brother's team –she'll be useful, believe me- that girl on Hyuuga and Rock Lee's team, your 'Yamato-taichou', Tsunade, and that ROOT member on your team." _

_I understood what he meant by exceptional abilities and chakra and I wasn't offended. Or at least I tried not be...he meant no one like his brother, Naruto-kun, Kakashi….the works._

_ "Lastly, I assume you all will be having dreams. Well, specifically, these dreams will be of the future had you never left it. The point of view you will be receiving them in is unknown to me, however."_

Well. That's interesting. And the information we gain can help us beat Obito in the past.

_"I will do all this under one condition. Or two, really. Otherwise, you can kiss my participation good-bye," I said._

_ "What is it?" he asked me. _

_"I want you to come to Konoha and tell Sasuke-kun the truth. I want you to get your name cleared, as best you can, anyway."_

_Before he could say anything, I continued. "If you don't, everything we'll do will be futile and the future will happen all over again. If he kills you and learns the truth – which I know he will - this will all be a waste! Please, Itachi-san…I can't bear to see Sasuke-kun suffer like that again. Or Naruto suffer trying to bring him back. Therefore, I refuse to help unless you agree to these terms."_

_I saw him contemplate. Then make a decision._

_"Fine. But not too soon. I'll do it after Jiraiya retrieves Tsunade, but I might do it before to prevent the roof incident. And I know about these things because I looked into the memories of everyone I'm sending back. Sorry, but it had to be done. I will do the same to all of you, so don't feel too confused if you have memories that don't belong to you."_

_He added that last part because of the look of confusion I had on my face at the mentioning of the roof…incident._

_ I sighed. "It's alright. Like you said, it had to be done. So how does this work exactly? What do I need to do?"_

_"Just walk through this door and you'll wake up in the past."_

_"What door – oh." A door suddenly appeared. I walked to it._

_"When will I see you next?" I asked._

_"I'll try to communicate through the scroll. Try to meet up with the others as soon as possible and try to keep in character and slowly introduce your new self. Don't raise suspicion and tell the 3__rd__ Hokage everything."_

_"Alright. Bye." I pushed the door open, feeling the presence of my Inner next to me, ready to go into it with me._

_As I stepped through, I heard Itachi say softly, the last of his body disintegrating, "See you there."_

* * *

**BEEP! BEEP BEEP!**

I jolted from my bed, looking down at my smaller body.

"It worked!" I said.

I looked to the calendar to see what day Itachi sent me (and others) to.

I gasped. "Today is-"

* * *

**(1): Sora was a filler character in the anime, after/during the Twelve Guardian Shinobi Arc and right before Asuma died. Sora's dad, Kazuma, had harvested the chakra Kurama (the Kyuubi) had.. exuded (?) during his invasion, and 5 years later, implanted it in Sora, making him a pseudo-Jinchuuriki. I kinda consider him a member of Team Kakashi, as temporary as he was. Do you want me to add him later?  
(2): The truth about the Massacre. Remember "Tobi" told Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato? In this case, Sai was told, too, or he somehow figured it out. Either way, he knows. And in canon, as usual, Sakura's never told anything, so here, she doesn't know either.  
(3): When I read it in the manga, it made me tear up. Seriously. I rarely tear up in anime - rarer so in manga. But that was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read, and the most beautiful moment in the entire series. I didn't _feel_ like shedding a tear in the recent chaps - I was too surprised and angry to!  
(4): If you've read the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, it works like Riptide, Percy's pen-sword. Even if he loses it, it appears magically in his pocket. The scrolls are like that, except not in their pocket. Somewhere on their person, may it be a backpack, purse, pouch, or otherwise.**

**READ AND REVIEW MY LOVELIES~! I LOVE YOU ALL! Dearly.**

**R&R DoOver, too.**

**I won't update without reviews.**

**OH!**

**And I have a poll:**

**POLL:**

**Later in this story, we'll celebrate Sasuke's birthday. Since I will be making everyone a year older than they should be, it'll be Sasuke's 14th birthday. So, what should Naruto get him? It has to be meaningful guys, not some crap from a store. You can even make up a backstory for the item. Naruto and Sasuke, in this story, will be best friends since like the age of 6, so they're already close.**

**WHAT SHOULD NARUTO'S MEANINGFUL 14TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO SASUKE BE?**

**You can even tell me through reviews in DoOver.**

**So you have 5 ways to suggest your ideas:**

**-Reviews for this story**

**-Reviews for DoOver**

**-PMs**

**-My email, which is at the top of my profile. But I'd prefer if you did, because I got a shitload (maybe like 2k right now) emails on that account and I delete by the hundreds, so not a good idea to contact me through there.**

**-My facebook account, on which I have no friends. I haven't even friended myself yet (I have another, personal, facebook) and neither has my sister.**

**LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, PEEPS! **

**-Love, me.**


	2. Chapter 2: Team SelectionsIntroductions

Monday, January 21st, 2013.

**Happy MLK Jr. Day! Happy birthday Mr. King!**

**Happy Inauguration Day! Congratulations, President Obama for your 2nd term!**

**Sorry, Gaara, for missing you birthday on Saturday. I tried to update, but had no time.**

**Sorry, Giotto (aka Primo, from KHR) and Minato because I will miss your birthdays on Friday. Funny how your birthday is on the same day, the 25th. So alike...you look like an older version of your future successor and main character of the anime, blonde, sweet, kick-ass, had a high position in whatever it is you do, (MinatoHokage, GiottoBoss of Vongola, 1st at that) etc. And are hot. Can't miss that.**

**Shino's birthday is on the 23rd.**

**Inoichi's on the 24th. RIP.**

**Yeah, I'm not hiding it much anymore. RIP, Shikaku too. I'm sure Neji's death circulated by now if you didn't already know. If not, sorry, and too bad.**

Disclaimer:** Gaara, if you will.**

**Gaara: I would get some romance if Cherry owned Naruto. She'd probably also do a cool One Piece crossover with Oda. Or KHR with Amano. **

Dedication:** To my beloved Momo-chan, for being my friend and being the only reviewer to the first chapter! And also, **aalc95** for being the only review for DoOver since chapter 19. I think everyone thinks I'm dead or still on vacation. Is that the case, guys?**

**Now READ! And REVIEW!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Team Selections & Introductions

* * *

**Recap**

_I looked to the calendar to see what day Itachi sent me (and others) to._

_I gasped. "Today is-"_

**End Recap**

* * *

**Sakura POV**

"Today is the day our teams are chosen!" I bolted out of bed and stopped when I saw something on my bedside table. A couple things actually.

A red cellphone. My Team 7 picture. My Team 7 photo with Sai and Yamato, minus Sasuke. Another picture of me, Naruto, Sai, Yamato, Kakashi, and Sora**(1)**.

My laptop. _Oh, good! Now I don't have to buy my software all over again!_

And finally, my headband.

Instead of the blue cloth that I had when I first graduated, it was red.

**_I guess the headband and the other Team 7 pictures and our laptop came back with us to the past._**

_I guess so, Inner. I'm glad it did._

**_Me, too._**

"Sakura! Wake up, now! Do you _want_ to be late?!" Wait a minute, that's my mother's voice! But she sounds…different.

_But she sounds so…mean, and nasty._

**_Remember Itachi some things would change? Maybe instead of being nice and stuff, our parents are mean?_**

_Maybe…_

**_Shouldn't we be getting ready for the academy? We _don't _want to be late._**

_I forgot! Shit! Gotta get ready! _

* * *

****Time Skip: ½ Hour later****

I was walking in the hallways of the academy, heading to my class to find out our teams and sensei.

"Hey, forehead! Wait up!" I turned to find Ino-pig running up to me.

When she caught up to me, she asked me a question. "So, did you add all of our numbers in your cell yet? Even Matsuri and Temari's? I did. Yamato-taichou's, too. We need some form of communication. I doubt 'Weasel' has a cell."

At first I didn't understand, and then it came back to me. "Yeah, I did, Pig. It's a good thing we have another name for 'Weasel'. We can't call him by his name. And if anyone asks about 'Weasel' just say you have a friend you call that because he's sly or something. Sasuke-kun will be furious and everyone else will be suspicious. Now let me through the door; we're here. But we should still come up with a better nickname. 'Weasel's' lame."

She stepped aside to let me get to the door of our classroom, but whispered, "Remember to stay _somewhat _in character, as to not arouse suspicion." I nodded to let her know I heard.

As I stepped through, she came in right behind me and exclaimed loud enough for the class to hear, "Hey, class, listen up! I have an announcement!"

As the students turned to her to find out what the hell the outburst was about, I looked around to view any visible changes that Itachi mentioned due to the time travel.

Then I saw it. Sasuke and Naruto. No, they weren't being lovey-dovey, I'm no longer a yaoi fan.

Well…not of those two, anyway.

I never was a fan of a yaoi relationship between those two. It's like picturing your two brothers together. Ew.

That one prank Konohamaru pulled on me involving Sai and Sasuke **(2)**was a one-time thing.

I swear.

Really.

**_Right._**

Anyway, the two of them looked like…best friends. Like they were later on when we became a team. Arguing all the time, but best friends. It made me smile.

**_That's good. That gives Sasuke more incentive to stay or have help to defeat Itachi. Although I hope Itachi will tell him soon._**

_So do I._

"Attention, attention, everyone! I, Ino Yamanaka," Ino started, -I totally forgot she was there for a minute- "Am officially over Sasuke Uchiha." Gasps filled the room –mine was among them.

_What are you _**doing**_ PIG?!_

"I gave myself a reflection and realized what a jerk he can be and that I want someone…different. It's not like we'll actually be together anyway. My crush _was_ mostly artificial, after all." I turned to her, confused and shocked.

**_Well someone's being quite theatrical, isn't she?_**

_She was too hasty._

"That is all." And with that, she went up to her seat between Chouji and Shikamaru; Chouji had dropped his bag of chips and was gaping at her. Shikamaru looked at her like she had 3 heads. Or 4. Or 5. I'm not sure any amount of heads can hold her... eccentric personality.

_"_Subtle_, Pig! I thought you were supposed to stay in character?!" _I thought to her. Ino had developed a jutsu in the future that allowed her to communicate telepathically to others. It takes little chakra and the more she does it in a specific mind, the less chakra it takes until it doesn't take any chakra at all. She lamely calls it "Yamanaka Style: Telepathy". Regardless of the fact that she's the first Yamanaka to come up with it. Creative, right?

Not.

_"I know, but you know about my crush on Sai. We can let our real personalities be introduced slowly, so we don't terribly surprise others like I just did. Now shut up and pay attention to Sasuke!"_ She replied.

I turned to Sasuke, and noticing his lack of the look of a psychopathic axe murderer or the average, revenge-obsessed psycho, I brightened up immediately and couldn't resist smiling happily and saying, "Hello, Sasuke-kun, Naruto!"

Naruto turned to me when I mentioned his name. "Sakura-chan…?"

My expression turned a little solemn. "Naruto, I'm sorry of the way I treated you over the years. I was being a bitch. Can you forgive me? Want to start over as friends?" I asked sincerely. Sasuke raised his brow at my actions, realizing that I was serious.

After Naruto got over his own shock, he nodded, he shook my outstretched hand.. "Of course, Sakura-chan! I forgive you, and I would love to start over! But do you think-"

I cut him off before he could continue. "Sorry, I can't like you like that Naruto. Just friends. But I'll let you know that there is someone who likes you –romantically, of course."

When he heard this, Sasuke grunted, and then turned to me, unbelieving that someone actually likes Naruto.

Naruto, however first got a little gloomy, and then brightened up. "Alright, Sakura! I'm fine with being friends! You can be like-…my little sis'! But there's a girl who likes me? Who, who?!"

Sasuke snorted. "Who would like a dobe like you, Usuratonkachi? And Sakura's older than you**(3)**, so you'd be the younger 'sibling'. Not her."

I interrupted before Naruto could do something to Sasuke. "You both know her, at least her name. But I won't tell you who because you either need to figure out, or she'll tell you, Naruto. She's liked you for a long time."

I snuck a glance at Hinata, who was blushing furiously, looking at me shocked. I winked at her. She turned redder.

Sasuke caught my wink and saw Hinata. Then he nodded in understanding. My guess is that he noticed how she acted around him, but never knew why. And gets it now.

Naruto noticed Sasuke's look but not Hinata, thank God. _She'd kill me! Figuratively, of course…I think._ "You know, too teme! Who is it?"

He grunted. "You need to figure that out yourself, or she'll tell you someday, like Sakura said."

Naruto pouted, and then slumped down in his seat.

"Alright class, listen up!" Iruka-sensei walked into the class, going to the front desk. "I will now announce the assignments for teams, and then tell you your sensei. You will wait until your sensei comes to pick you up. Until then, no one leaves. Understand? Good. Now, Team 1…"

**_A little different than last time, but alright. And I forgot how cute Sasuke-kun was when we were younger! It's refreshing to see a not crazy Sasuke!_**

_I know! It makes me want to glomp him! But don't make me, Inner._

**_I won't._**

_Good._

I started listening to Iruka-sensei again.

"…Team 6: Ami Watanabe, Yukuo Akizuki, and Renji Konosume." I saw Ami scowl and pout since she wasn't put on Sasuke's team.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno." Naruto punched the air, happy that he got his two friends with him.

"That's not fair! How come _Forehead _is on Sasuke-kun's team and I'm not! She's hardly at the top, like him and I deserve to be with him! I love him and he loves me!" Ami was absolutely **furious. **It was quite funny to see her react like this.

But I was also pissed. Before I could say anything, however, Ino intervened.

"Hey! Only I can call her Forehead Forehead!"

"Really? 'Cuz I don't **care**, _Piggy_!"

Before Ino could punch Ami in the face, Iruka interrupted.

"Ladies, ladies! Stop this! Ami, don't call others names! You'd think now that you're genin you're above this? Ino, what did I tell you about violence in my class?"

Ami tried the innocent act. "B-but! Sasuke-kun and I are meant to be! We're in love!"

Iruka snorted. That's right. _Snorted_.

_I never thought I'd see the day._

"I think you're the only on that believes that. I bet your crush on Sasuke is superficial, too." He must have heard Ino's earlier announcement. "And even if you two were in love, it wouldn't change a thing. These are your partners and that's final. I couldn't change them even if I wanted to - which I don't. Now, for the rest of the teams.

"Team 8: Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka." There was a bark. "And Akamaru. Sorry.

"…Team 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chouji Akimichi…"

I tuned out while he continued with the teams then moved on to sensei.

"Isn't this great, Sakura-chan! We'll be the best team ever! Believe it!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

I smiled, sincerely. "Yup! Do you think so, Sasuke-kun?" I turned to him.

He grunted. "Whatever, I can tolerate the two of you at least. Now be quiet. He's about to name our sensei."

I turned my attention back to Iruka-sensei. "…Team 7: Hatake Kakashi. You may know him as the Copy Ninja or Sharingan Kakashi. But I warn you - he's chronically late. And Kakashi-sempai's never passed a team before. I suggest you do your best."

_Iruka-sensei may not have done this last time, but I'm glad he's giving the others a heads-up on our sensei. We certainly could've appreciated one…_

Sasuke raised his eye brow at "Sharingan Kakashi".

"Team 8: Kurenai Yuuhi. She specializes in genjutsu. Hinata, I hear she's already begun training you?" The shy girl nodded. "Y-yes. She's strict but a great teacher."

Iruka smiled. "That she is. Now…"

"Team 10: Asuma Sarutobi, son of our 3rd Hokage and former member of the 12 Guardian Shinobi of Konoha. I've been told you already know him, also, Shikamaru." I think he asked that for 2 purposes: to make Shikamaru stay awake and alert, and to answer his own curiosity.

"Yeah," the lazy ass yawned. "He also taught me Shogi, but he's never won." No one was very surprised at that last part. Shikamaru was incredibly lazy but he's a genius. The only reason his grades aren't the best is because he only did enough work to pass.**(4)**

Iruka finished and then the sensei began arriving. _Again, a little different than last time..._

Hours had passed and Naruto got frustrated and decided to do the eraser trick.

"Do you really think that will work, Loser? He's a Jounin, and a former member of the ANBU Black Ops. He won't fall for that."

_On the contrary Sasuke._ "Maybe, but 'even the best fall at the worst of times.'"

He raised a brow at me. "You think he'll fall for it?"

"Maybe," I said, shrugging.

Suddenly, we heard the creak of the door being opened. In walked Kaka-sensei, with in eraser on his head, a scowl on his face under the mask, and white chalk dust on his head.

"HA! I told you it would work teme!" Naruto pointed at Sasuke, laughing.

"My first impression on you guys…I hate you." Kakashi said, taking off the eraser and shaking his head to get the dust out.

"Meet me on the roof." With that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"I hope he'll teach us that." I muttered, following Sasuke and Naruto ahead of me, both nodding in agreement. _I'm so surprised how well he's taking my personality change…and he's even acting (relatively) friendly to me! I like this Sasuke!_

We sat ourselves on the steps on the roof, Kakashi looking at us. "Alright; I want your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future. You know - the works."

Sasuke looked disappointed. He wasn't expecting him to tell him about ourselves of all things.

"How about you go first, so we get the feel of it!" Naruto suggested.

**_Not bad, Naruto. I like that suggestion._**

* * *

**Sasuke POV**

"Well…" started Kakashi. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I suppose I like some things and I dislike some other stuff. Dream for the future? Huh…never really thought of that. Oh, and I have a lot of hobbies."

_Great. All we learned was his name. Which we already knew. And that he has trust issues. Not a surprise._

"Well! Next is…Pinky!" he said.

**_Sakura, huh? She's been acting different lately. I want to hear this._**

_She's a girl, Inner. Girls always act different._

**_No, she's not totally fawning over us and she asked for forgiveness from _Naruto_, whom she beats the crap out of! And her aura is…more confident. It feels a little weird. Her chakra signature is a little different too; hers, but different from yesterday. I don't get it. She also seems a little older._**

_*Sigh* I wonder what you're smoking up there… whatever. She's talking now. _

"My name is Sakura Haruno, not Pinky. I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me that. I like…books, history, and medicine. I don't like people with a superiority complex or think that they can force someone to do something they don't want to do. I hate sexists. My hobbies are reading, training, the occasional writing, reading or watching anime, manga and fanfiction, and listening to music. My dream for the future is…is…"

She looked almost distraught, afraid, sad and worried at the same time, but only if you looked closely. _Hmm…_

However, she continued.

"….My dream of the future is to surpass Lady Tsunade completely in both medical ninjutsu and as a combat ninja! And I want to protect those important to me!"

"...Right, a pink brainiac. Blondie next."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen, ramen from Ichiraku's, Iruka-sensei treating me to Ichiraku's, and ramen in general! I also like orange, friends, and Sakura-chan much more than that chicken-ass-headed bastard! I dislike people who judge and treat people terribly without getting to know them or knowing them at all. I hate people with 're creepy - anime taught me that much. I really hate who people who lie to themselves."

I noticed Sakura barely hid a flinch from this last statement. _I wonder why..._

"My hobbies are eating ramen and bugging Teme, who's my best friend even if he won't admit it. And I WILL be Hokage one day! The greatest!"

"Okay…a human orange obsessed with ramen. You next, 'chicken-ass-headed bastard'." Kakashi added air quotes around "chicken-butt-headed bastard". _Damn him._

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like a lot of things and I dislike a lot of things. My hobbies are training and hanging out with that Usuratonkachi over there. And my dream is not a dream but an ambition that I will make come true: to revive my clan and kill a **certain someone.**" I said.

Our sensei sighed. "Fantastic. A pink brainiac, a human orange obsessed with ramen, and an emo avenger obsessed with revenge. This will be interesting. Anyway, meet at Training Ground 7 at 9 AM tomorrow. Don't eat or you'll throw it up. Bye." With that, he disappeared.

The 3 of us looked at each other.

"Ne, Sakura-chan…" Naruto asked the girl.

"Yeah?"

"Who's 'Lady Tsunade'?" I nodded with Naruto's statement to say I didn't want to know either.

"Oh!" Sakura looked excited. I guess she felt happy knowing something we didn't.  
"Tsunade is one of the three Lengendary Sannin – three ninja, all from Konoha, from the same team in fact – who had impressed Hanzo the 'Salamander' when they faced him in the 3rd Great Ninja War, though they were his enemies and they didn't win, I believe. Since then, the 3, the some of the strongest ninja to ever live, became renown.

Tsunade's nickname is the 'Slug Princess', as her summon is a slug –possibly the _queen_ of slugs, if memory serves- and she's first Hokage's granddaughter. Her other nickname is the 'Legendary Sucker' for her inability to gamble but apparent addiction to it. She's a drunkard, too."

At this, Naruto chuckled.

"Orochimaru's summons are snake. However, he defected from Konoha, becoming obsessed with learning jutsu and the secret to immortality, having no qualms of human experimentation while he was at it. He's a sick, crazy, scientific genius – the worst kind."

At this, the air tensed, and Sakura's demeanor darkened some, before lighting again.

While talking about Orochimaru, I sensed… malice in her voice. I would know, after all.

You know… hatred for Itachi…all that jazz.

_Hmm..Orochimaru huh. I feel like I should know that name... be familiar with it…why?_

"Jiraiya became known as the 'Toad Sage'. However, he's infamous for being a pervert. Correction, a **_super_** pervert. He's even the writer of the books Kakashi-sensei reads. If you didn't know, it's porn."

I scowled. **_Ew…our teacher's a pervert. Perfect._**

"He was also the 4th Hokage's teacher, by the way. So he's no pushover. In fact, there's debate over who's the strongest Sannin – Orochimaru, or Jiraiya? I personally lean toward Jiraiya, who I believe can beat Orochimaru if he goes all out, killing him as well, if he wished. However, Orochimaru, I think, is also very capable of defeating and killing Jiraiya."

My interest was spiked. "How do you know so much about them, to the point to make speculations and your own conclusion on who's the strongest?" _Why would Sakura know so much about these Sannin? I've only heard the name, Sannin, now that I think about it, yet she's practically an encyclopedia! Surely, some of this information is classified, or at least off-limits to a genin who's only _been_ a genin for a day!_

Sakura simply smiled almost slyly and put a finger to her lips. "Se-cr-et!" was spoken, followed by a giggle. _Something tells me that"secret" is bigger than she makes it seem. Or I'm just reading too many mysteries and novels…why'd Mother-…**how'd **Mother get me into mysteries again?! And books period? I'm not an avid reader!_

**_Two words for mysteries: Scooby-Doo. 3 for books: anime and manga. Two more for them all: Mother's boy._**

_I'm. Not. A. Mother's boy!_

**Sure_, we're not...get back to listening, will ya?_**

"But anyway, Tsunade's my idol."

"Ooh, that's cool, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura nodded.

**_Orochimaru huh…_**

_Why do I feel like I should know that name? It gives me a bad feeling._

Suddenly, Sakura's phone rang, giving a sound like a bell. _A text._

She jumped, not expecting it. **_I didn't even know she had a cell._**

_Who cares?_

She took out her phone and looked at it and smiled excitedly. **_Who_**_ could have texted her?_

**_Jealous?_**

_Of_ what_?_

Quickly, she texted something back and put it back into her pocket.

"I have to go. See you tomorrow. But I suggest eating; if he said we're going to throw it up we must be doing something that will take quite a bit of energy. But how will we do that without food? Anyway, bye!" She smiled then ran off.

**_You know, she's kinda cute when she smiles._**

_Since when did you care if a girl looks cute? Much less Sakura?_

**_I always have. I just didn't tell you. You're 13, turning 14 in a couple months. Your hormones should be tormenting you by now. I must be getting them, then._**

_I have no time for women. I need power to kill Itachi; not romance._

**_Oh? And what about your second goal? As they say, it takes two to tango._**

_Don't kids come from Heaven transported to Earth by storks or something?_

**_. . ._**

_..Inner?_

**_. . . FUCK! I'M _**_STUCK **WITH A **_MORONIC _CHILD_**_ FOR AN OUTER! I can't believe that Itachi left you, Shisui, Mother, and Father (barely) alive. I wish he killed Shisui! He's been teaching you _LIES_!_**

_So it's _not_ storks?_

**_*Cue Facepalm, then Sigh* That's a lesson for another day, Young Grasshopper. I'm leaving._**

_Good riddance. _

I walked home, suddenly forgetting about my conversation with my Inner and wondering what Mother cooked for dinner.

_I hope it's onigiri with tomatoes inside._

* * *

**(1): **I'm still debating whether or not I'm including Sora later. I might here ReWind, but probably won't in DoOver. DoOver's chaotic enough as it is - it doesn't need many more unplanned characters. BTW, I'm updating it Saturday. So look forward to it, if you read DoOver!**  
**

**(2):**I was never a huge of a yaoi fan in the first place. I don't hate it, it's just not my thing. I read a SasuNaru doujinshi a couple times, though,and they were tolerable. I still don't like it really, especially if the character is as straight as a board. I'm not homophobic, but I just hate it when my fave fictional characters that are obviously straight are paired up with another straight guy. (which usually happens) If they weren't or were questionable in the first place I wouldn't have a problem. It's like putting Sanji from One Piece and Jiraiya together- some of the straightest ladies' men EVER, despite their incredible age difference. That'd be pedophilia even though Sanji's 19 before the Time Skip, and therefore legal. But yeah...I might read a doujin once in a while, but that's it. I'm sticking with my usual favorite couples. (SasuSaku, NejiTen, etc.)

Oh, and the prank she's talking about was in Naruto chapter 344, I think. To keep Sakura from getting mad at him after performing the Sexy Jutsu in front of her with a clone, he transformed on clone into Sai and himself into Sasuke, and "Sai" and "Sasuke" were in a very provocative position. Let's just say, Sakura got excited. Naruto was horrified and disgusted, Kakashi was too, I think, but not as much as Naruto. (I'm pretty sure he was there). All Sai said was, "Oh. That's Sasuke-kun and I." He doesn't realize...nevermind. Let's just say, Konohamaru won an un-bruised head, and blackmail on Sakura.

**(3): **Sakura's birthday is March 28th, Sasuke's July 23rd, and Naruto's October 10th. It's likely she was actually born the year before Sasuke and Naruto because of the Japanese school system or whatever, and it would make more sense with her being 12-13 according to the data books and all that in Part 1, since I estimate Part 1 to be about to just over a year long. And the Waves mission was in the Spring, so that means the Selections Day was before that. (Here, it was a couple weeks after Sakura's birthday, so she's already 14 - remember, they're a year older than they should be). If I'm right and she WAS born in the year before Sasuke and Naruto, Tenten is also younger than Neji and Lee in canon - Neji was born in July, Lee in December. Just speculation. But here, Tenten and Sakura are older than their teammates.

**(4): **It's a good thing Shika starts working harder in Shippuden. I'm already lazy enough, I don't need another influence. Oh, what am I saying? I adore Shika!

* * *

**I might update Saturday, or the one after. (today's date is at the top of the page). Depends on your reviews.**

**LOVE YOU ALL!**

**YOU CAN STILL VOTE FOR SASUKE'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT FROM NARUTO! OR FROM KAKASHI, SAI, SAKURA, FUGAKU, ETC!**

I DON'T UPDATE WITHOUT REVIEWS!

**Love,**

**Epic Otaku Cherry**


	3. Chapter 3: The Scrolls

_Sunday, February 3rd, 2013._

**Hey, guys! The Superbowl is in 40 minutes! Sweet!**

**Btw, if you don't know, the Superbowl is like the championship of American football. Whoever wins this, gets the title of best team for a year 'till the next Superbowl.**

**This year, it's the San Francisco 49ers vs. the Baltimore Ravens. Did you know? The coaches of the teams are brothers! I'm placing my bets on the 49ers, so you guys better win or I lose 15 bucks to my dad!**

**I'm used to watching (American) football every season cuz my dad watches, and though I wouldn't call myself a "proper" fan, I like it well enough.**

**Anyway, I have a new system on updating my stories:**

**Every other week per story. So the next time I update this will be week of February 11th. I'll update DoOver next week, and ReWind the week after that, DoOver the week after that, and so on. Get it? I'm going to try and keep it that way, kay? Maybe I'll update more if I get more reviews? *winkwink***

Dedication: _crazy reader 241_** for reading and reviewing all of my stories. Thank you!**

Disclaimer:** Dude, if I owned Naruto, I would have gotten together with Akira Amano and FORCE those anime producers if necessary to make a 2nd season of KHR. Seriously.**

**I don't feel like listing birthdays - this author's note is already long enough.**

**Now read!**

**ATTENTION: after this chapter, the similarities to DoOver are basically gone. ReWind is its own story, and you'll see that as it progresses.**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Scrolls

**Sakura POV**

I kept running until I found the clearing behind the bench that Sasuke-kun…left me at. Your remember there were some trees over there? Some small distance into the trees is a large clearing that doesn't project voices. It's also mostly undisturbed, so less people go there.

Perfect for a secret meeting spot for undercover time-travelers. If you didn't already realize it, a meeting was called.

When I got there, I saw I was the last one.

Tenten flagged me over. "Hey! Sakura-chan, what kept you?"

I sighed, sitting next to her. "Today was the day for introductions. The bell test is tomorrow, but I have an ominous feeling about it."

"Why?"

"I'd tell you if I knew. I don't think anything major is going to happen. For all I know, I might be the one tied to the stump instead of Naruto. Maybe that's it."

She looked at me for a minute, then nodded and accepted the answer.

I looked around the circle, taking in who was here.

There was Pig, Hinata-chan, Tenten-chan, and Sai-kun.

Temari and Matsuri were in Suna at this time,; Yamato's God-knows-where, but I know he'll see us ASAP; Karin is still in Grass**(1)**, and Tsunade is waiting for Naruto to pick her up a long time from now.

"Do you guys think this would be a good time to check any changes in our scrolls? I don't sense anyone spying and apparently only the time travelers can see inside the scrolls." Hinata said, pulling her indigo, deep blue, and lavender colored scroll.

All the scrolls were simple looking, normal sized, and looked the same, except for the colors and a couple symbols.

Hinata's, like I said, was indigo, white, and lavender. It had the Hyuga symbol, an indigo butterfly and her first name on it.  
Ino's was Royal Blue, Yellow, and dark purple. Weird combination, but it looked good. It had the Yamanaka symbol and her first name on it.  
Tenten's was maroon red, white, and forest green. Weird, but good, like Ino's. It had "twin dragons" wrapping around her name. _It's a wonder it doesn't remind me of Christmas._  
Sai's was black, white, and deep purple. It had his name in paint on it. I'm not sure if he did that himself or not.  
Mine was pink, red, and a soft lime green. It had the Haruno's white circle and "Sakura" on it.

I cocked my head, confused. "How did you find out that only we can read the scrolls?"

Hinata looked down, almost ashamed. "While Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were training with each other, I was reading my scroll. Before I knew it, Kiba was behind me looking over my shoulder but he said it looked blank to him."

"Yeah," Tenten joined in. "When I pulled out my scroll thinking it was something else, to summon weapons for my team to train with, I dropped it and Lee tried opening it. What's odd is that my team can open my weapon scrolls, but he couldn't open this one. The string just wouldn't untie itself. I took it back and tried opening it. I realized it only responds to our _chakra_. It opens when we open it because it read out chakra signature and opens. If it's not ours, it can't be opened.

"I asked Neji to transform into me, changing his chakra signature to mine. His new signature was close, but not perfect, so he couldn't open it. I told him to try again, and he got it perfectly. But when he opened it the scroll it was blank. I took it back and thanked him. So, it only lets **us **see it."

"He got your signature perfectly? That's nearly impossible for anyone." Sai asked Tenten.

"I asked him that too, and he said the only way he could explain it is that we're always together, - since we were like 6-7 apparently, in this time - and his body and chakra was so used to being exposed to mine, that it wasn't _too _difficult to get it perfectly. But it wasn't easy."

Sai nodded, understanding.

"Weasel must have been paranoid, huh?" commented Ino.

"Weasel?" asked Hinata, not understanding why Ino didn't just say Itachi.

"Well, we can't call him by his name can we? He's an S-class criminal and Sasuke will flip out if he hears _his _name."

"Technically, aren't we still calling him by his name? It's just the English translation. And…Weasel? How…original. I wish I thought of that one." Tenten deadpanned through the last sentences. _Just how much time was she spending with Neji?_

**_Maybe they're…dating in secret? Or even-….ooh, how scandalous. Naughty, naughty, Ten-chan!_**

_Neji+dating+this point in time(or ever)=brain does not compute. Just _**no**_, Inner. And I don't even _want _to know what the hell you meant by that last half. Eww…_

_**Children shouldn't hear such things, so don't worry.**_

_Children? How am I-...you know what? Nevermind._

"Anyway, we should check over the scroll for the changes in this time." Sai said, opening his scroll, laying it out in front of him.

The scrolls all said the same things.

_-Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke: met at age five and had been friends and training together ever since._

_-Uchiha Massacre: Uchiha Itachi spared Uchiha Shisui, but still somehow managed to attain the Mangekyo Sharingan. Shisui has both of his eyes. Uchiha also spared his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, his brother Uchiha Sasuke, and his father, Fugaku, who was in a coma for 2 ½ years, waking up 2 years before now._

_-Hyuga Hizashi: had sacrificed himself a year later than previously, on Hyuga Hinata's 4__th__ birthday. Tenten and Rock Lee had met each other as well as Hyuga Neji shortly after the death of his father, staying friends since._

_-Fourth Kazekage: had not cared much for Temari and Kankuro, allowing them with their younger brother, Gaara. Gaara regards the two as his siblings and some of the only bonds he has, (though he doesn't understand them) however his attitude is not much different from the past. Still insane, and murder hungry. _

_-Gaara: had met Matsuri twice at 6, then had run into Matsuri, at age 10. He had broken her leg on accident, but she still insisted on being friends with him. He kept her near him and trained her to be a ninja. He is slightly protective and possessive of her, but he won't kill her or his siblings without reason. But that doesn't mean he cares about them much. He's just less reluctant to kill them as before._

_-Matsuri: her parents had died in a fire after her house had been raided by rogue ninja when she was 9. She had been on the streets until she had met Gaara and Temari shared her room with her. _

_-Umino Iruka: had adopted Naruto as his foster brother _**(2)**_ when Naruto was 9. They still live separately, with Iruka visiting and feeding him properly, -however. _

_-The Mizuki incident had still happened._

_-Haruno Kizashi: Haruno Sakura's father: is a slightly abusive drunk civilian. He believes in male domination and that only men can be ninja, amongst other chauvinist and sexist ideals._

_-Haruno Mebuki: Haruno Sakura's mother: Does not particularly care for her daughter and never really bothered to develop a bond with her. She merely provides her with her necessities and a few wants to keep her "out of her hair". However, she and her husband are very close and the two love each other very much. Their daughter? Not so much._

_-Sakura: has an apartment for herself prepared. She is to move into it anytime now. Sarutobi Hiruzen supports it until she can pay for it on her own._

_-Hyuga Hiashi: harsh, and treats Hinata as a defect. He treats Hyuga Hanabi similar to a robot, and is soon going to disown Hinata. It may happen any day now. Hanabi is sweet to her sister and genuinely loves her, but does not have the freedom to act as who she is, nor does she know how to or who she is. She follows Hiashi's words without knowing anything else. She is going to take Hinata's place as heir after Hinata is disowned._

_-Hyuga Ko_**(3)**_, Hinata's primary caretaker: Is always watching over Hinata. The two have a brother-sister/father-daughter sort of relationship. He is always there for Hinata. The two are very close. Has an extra apartment on the side that he uses occasionally with an extra bedroom for Hinata. He knew she was going to be disowned eventually and kept the apartment for when the time came (or when he didn't want to sleep at the manor) for Hinata and him to live._

_-Hyuga Yukina: Hinata's mother, had died in childbirth at Hanabi's death. This advanced Hiashi's plummet to who he is now. His brother's death clinched it._

_-Shimura Danzo: had set up the test 2 years earlier, resulting in Shin's current deceased status. _

_-Shin: As he stabbed himself, Sai, startled, jerked toward his brother and his book had fallen out. It was open to the final, finished page. Shin smiled, and -passed. Sai knows the other details._

_-Naruto: had been in the village's orphanage until he had been kicked out at 8. He then moved into the apartment he has today with the support of Sarutobi Hiruzen._

_-Tenten: Had been in the village's orphanage until she had convinced Sarutobi Hiruzen of letting her live alone in an apartment (that he pays for until she can) at 9. Shortly after Naruto had. She had met Naruto when she was 6 and him 5. They had become friends, but had not properly spoken to each other since the day after Tenten had gotten her apartment. They still feel as they are friends, though they don't speak much._

_-Hyuga Hinata: had talked to Naruto a couple times after Naruto had saved her from bullies at 5._

_-Yamanaka Ino: nothing really changed._

_-Uzumaki**(4)**Karin: Was captured by Orochimaru for her Heal Bite **(5) **abilities when she was 7, then ran away when she was 11. Worked as a jailward, and medic, taught by Kabuto. Hozuki Suigetsu, and Juugo were some of those she assisted Kabuto in experimenting on, or watched while Kabuto did whatever he does to them, as a lesson from Kabuto. She is currently residing once again in Grass, with her ninja team._

_-The scrolls: has a consciousness. My consciousness is in all of the scrolls. I can speak to you through them. So I'm a…living…scroll? I'm very weak however, so don't think I can talk to all of you often._

_-You all: are able to communicate through the scrolls, as long as you have them with you. Insert a tiny bit of your chakra into them and think of a message and who you want it to go to.  
Example: _Sakura to Tenten:  
**(From) Sakura: Hey, what's up?  
****Tenten: Not much. You?**

_-Understand?_

_-It is much too difficult for Itachi to communicate through this often, so don't expect it. _

_-Itachi: he could be saved from the illness that ultimately killed him. However, it's not easy._

_-As Itachi may have warned you, you will receive memories of the future that show what would have happened had you not left it. If they're chronological or not is currently unknown._

_-It is possible to transport things from scroll to scroll, using the summoning technique. However, it takes a lot of chakra, so don't do it often or for trivial things._

_-Like I said, I'm alive and watching. I'm immortal. I also speak pretty informally as you can see. That's all for now. You can't do anything with your scrolls for the rest of the day: only read._

_-Bye. Any questions for me will have to wait until tomorrow._

* * *

**(1): **Karin was originally from Grass.**  
(2): **Iruka himself said he loved Naruto as if he were his younger brother, when Naruto broke out of the turtle island place when he found out a war was going on and Iruka tried to stop him then let him go.**  
(3): **No one really remembers him, but he really is Hinata's caretaker and is in many of her flashbacks, and was there, trying to stop Hinata when she went off to fight Pain in the Pain Invasion.**  
(4): **Yup. She's an Uzumaki, believe it or not.**  
(5): **The name of her ability. BTW, she really did experiment on Suigetsu before Hebi was formed in canon. However, in canon, she was only taken at 12 and never personally met Juugo before Hebi.

**So, if you scroll up to the top author's note, you'll see my update schedule if you haven't already.**

**More reviews = more inspiration = more reliable updates & better chapters & maybe more romance. **

**So show that review button some love!**

**Love you guys!**

**Happy Superbowl! (now in 10 minutes. Better order some good ol' Papa John's bacon & pepperoni pizza)**

**Come on, 49ers! Win!**

**Love, EOC.**


	4. Chapter 4: Bell Tests and Parents

**Saturday, February 16th, 2013.**

**Hey, guys! Longer chap today! The chap itself is about 4k words.**

**My school science fair was yesterday, and I think we (my friend who's name I won't release, and my other [female] friend Jordan; we did a group project) did pretty well, I think. Usually, the kids at school dress up nice up nice for Sci. Fair.**

**We always have a half day that day, too. It's my first time in the school science fair! Usually, I hope for a B or C for my project and a participants' ribbon. (My overall science grade, no matter, usually remains an A or B)**

**This time, I think we might get into the regionals! SARSEF! (Southern Arizona Regional Something E-Something F-Something) That's where the money comes in! Yay! Also, I really liked this project.**

**My feet are killing me, though - 8 hours of wearing flats, where most of the padding is gone, and running in them a couple times, and standing for at least 3 of those hours straight didn't do wonders for my feet. Next time I'm carrying my shoes in my backpack and waiting til after school. Good thing it was a half day...**

**Anyway, wish me luck!**

Birthdays that I'm going to miss (I'm not including some that already passed, since I did that in DoOver since it was a different week:

**Suigetsu Hozuki: Feb 18th.**

**Lal Mirch (KHR), Konan, and Yahiko: Feb 20th. (what a coincidence! Some of my favorite characters and they're all part of a secret organization and are kick-ass!)**

**Shikaku Nara: Feb 24th. RIP.**

**My dad: Feb 26th. **

**Kabuto Yakushi: Feb 29th.**

Dedication: **My friend that I'm going to call "ZZ" here. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have a science fair project, much less one I liked so much and was so awesome. Maybe I'll tell you about it in the next chapter. Oh, she has a TeenInk . com account, and she's **_yeahthat'sme_**. She's a 100x better writer than I am.**

Disclaimer: **Sui's doing it, since I love him so. You've been hilarious in the latest chaps, Sui.**

**Sui: Thanks! Oh, uh, EOC only owns the plot. Seriously. If she owned Naruto...let's not go there.**

**Me: Happy early birthday by the way!**

**Sui: Thanks! Is there a pool nearby?**

**Me: Yeah, I'll show you. Meanwhile, you guys are to READ!**

**Don't forget to review!**

* * *

Chapter 4: Parents, and Bell Tests

* * *

**Sakura POV**

"Damn it! I was hoping _something _changed in my life changed!" Ino exclaimed.

"_That's _what you're concerned about?" Tenten asked incredulously.

"At least Matsuri doesn't have to meet Gaara for the first time again with the possibility of him killing her." Hinata commented.

"I expected this much. Now, I just need to find Yamato in the ANBU corps. The sooner we find him, the sooner Naruto can gain more control of Kurama's chakra after he receives the necklace from Tsunade-sama." Sai adds.

Ino nods. "Mmhm! We also need to contact Karin, Matsuri, and Temari soon to see what she knows so far, and strategize."

"Alright." Tenten said. "But for now, we should probably be getting home. It's almost dark and the others will want to know where we were. We need to be more inconspicuous The less people we have suspecting anything the better. I'm going home. I have training with Neji in the morning." She walks out of the clearing toward home.

"Of course," says Sai. "I'll be leaving. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Soon, everyone else is gone, while I headed over to my parent's place.

**_Let's move in into the apartment tomorrow. We'll sleep here tonight._**

_Sure. But I'm kind of scared to see what our father is really like._

**_Well here's your chance. He's opening the door._**

I looked up, to see my father looming over me, beer bottle in hand and reeking of cigarettes and alcohol.

"Wher' ya' been, bitch?" He slurred.

**_Seems like the typical type you see in books or something._**

_Now's not a good time Inner!_

**_Just trying to lighten the mood…_**

_For _**who**_?!_

**_Nevermind…_**

"I was hanging out with friends, Father." I said this cautiously, looking through the memories that this _Me_ had.

So he had beaten me a couple times…but not often. I could deal with that.

"Oh? How do I know if you're lying or not? Get in here, bitch." He even stepped aside to let me in. I walked in. "You dn't get 'ny dinr' tonight. Yer' lucky dat I'm not goin' to beat ya' _too _bad." He sneered, trapping me between a wall and himself. I didn't see my mother; I guess she was upstairs, unaware.

Or aware and **_uncaring_**, according to these new memories.

_What should I do, Inner? Fight back? I don't know how to control my strength in this body yet._

**_Let him. Something in me -or us- just says let him. I don't want to come across as strong yet, give ourselves our own sob story. _**

_…Alrighty, then…it's on your conscience…_

**_I AM your conscious. So it's…_**_ours__**, really.**_

Then, my father swung his burly fist at my face.

* * *

***15 minutes later, in Sakura's room***

I spent some time fixing up my wounds.

I had a black eye, a cracked wrist bone, 1 fractured rib, a busted lip, and a gash on my leg that _he _had caused with his empty alcohol bottle that I hadn't noticed earlier after he had broken it.

**_The dude should lay off the vodka and whiskey._**

_Shouldn't he?_

**_Yeah. That brand isn't even that good!_**

_…You're hopeless._

I actually didn't really care too much about the beating. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. Emotionally, that is.

In the other timeline, Father was never really supportive of me; just indifferent and the occasional scolding. Mom was the one who was "annoying", as my old self would have said. But overall, they were pretty okay parents. Could have been better, but no one's perfect, right?

**_Let's get the stuff we're taking to the other apartment ready. Then sleep._**

_Sure._

I spent another hour packing silently, then got ready for bed.

_Bell test tomorrow, huh? I somehow have a bad feeling._

**_Shut up and get to sleep. I'm exhausted._**

_Grouch, aren't you? Whatever. 'Night._

**_'Night._**

And with that, I feel into the welcoming arms of Hypnos. **(1)**

* * *

**Sakura POV**

I woke up early to take my things to my new apartment. I had already seen it, so I knew what it looked like. I went to the bedroom, unpacking my things. When I was done, I decided all I need to do in this room was paint and decorate the plain, white, walls, and I'd be just about set.

By now, I had just reached the red bridge, where we had always met. I was the first one there.

I looked up to the sky, a smirk coming to my face. _How do you think Father will react to seeing the note we left? _I asked my Inner.

**_I hope our parents won't try pestering the Hokage to tell us where we live. I don't know about Mom, though. She seems indifferent and like she doesn't care about us._**

_Maybe… But that doesn't matter now. I have other priorities._

_ Mebuki and Kizashi**(2)**_

_I got myself my own apartment, so I won't be living here anymore. _

_Bye._

_-Sakura_

Then, I laughed a little, picturing Father's red face of anger, ready to shred the paper. Even angrier that I called them by their names and not by "Kaa-san" and "Tou-san" or similar.

"What's so funny, Sakura-chan?" I turned to see my favorite orange-covered-fashion-monstrosity; Naruto.

I smiled at him. "Nothing, Naruto."

"Hn. Naruto. Sakura. Where's Kakashi?" I found Sasuke walking up to us.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun. I have no idea where Kakashi-sensei is, though. I heard from some jounin that Kakashi is known for being late. Didn't Iruka-sensei say that, too?"

"Fine, then. We'll see." Accepting the answer, he leaned back against the railing, probably thinking.

I, however, lied down and was going to sleep. "What're you doin' Sakura-chan?"

"Sleeping. Did you guys eat?"

Sasuke and Naruto nodded. "Good. Now, I'll wake up when Kakashi-sensei comes. I think I'll be able to hear him or something. Or Naruto's ruckus when he does will do it for him."

Naruto pouted, and Sasuke smirked. After that, I went to sleep on the bridge.

**_I think you hung out with Shikamaru too much in the future._**

_Shut up and let me sleep, damn you._

* * *

***2 ½ hours later***

I heard a "Yo", waking me up from my slumber.

I stood up, stretching, seeing Kakashi.

"So you're finally here?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Now, come with me."

He first showed us the gravestone (that he always hung out at, as I learned in the future) teaching us that some die in battle valiantly, as well as the cemetery. I kept my face impassive, Sasuke's the same, and Naruto trying but failing pathetically, looking like he was going to cry comically, but genuinely as Kakashi explained why they should be honored. Luckily, he didn't.

Then, he took us to our training ground, explaining the rules of the Bell Test.

"And…go!" The three of us disappeared.  
I tried to find Sasuke.

**_We'll get Naruto after he's caught, but let Sasuke know about the teamwork thing._**

_Yeah. Let's do this!_

After finding him hiding in shrubs on the ground, I bent down next to him, hiding myself and whispering.

"Sasuke-kun!" I whisper-yelled. He turned to me, seemingly annoyed.

"What?"

"I think this test is about teamwork. I mean, we're a team, right? We can't beat him individually so we'll have to work together to get those bells."

He seemed to think about it. "Maybe so. But I won't work with a weakling like _you_." With that he disappeared, and fired a fireball at Kakashi, who was 30 feet away.

I was too shocked to move. **_That…that…ASS!_**

_But, what do I do now?_

**_He's already working with Naruto, oddly enough. Looks like we're on our own._**

I was upset by his words, but I won't let it get to me. I stood up, ready to make a move.

"Yo - done daydreaming?" Okay, maybe not so ready.

I hardened my expression, and raised my fist, and putting some chakra in it to punch him. That was when I felt like my body was burning and stiffening. _Wh-wh-what's happening?_

Taking advantage of my hesitation, (as it seems to him) Kakashi kicked my side, sending me to the ground.

_What the hell? What's up with me? _I struggled to stand, trying to kick him with my own leg to perform a roundhouse kick.

But I was too slow and Kakashi grabbed my leg and flung me into a nearby tree.

"You'll have to try better than that. I thought I said to come at me with killing intent?" That got me going.

I stood back up and flung a few kunai at him, watching him dodge. When he did, I threw a smoke bomb, obscuring his vision. I ran through the smoke, attempting to get closer to him.

The smoke quickly dispersed, and my sensei found himself face-to-face with me. I quickly casted a genjutsu on him, to distract him.

It seemed to work, and as I was inching to get the bells, he swiveled his hips away and grabbed my hand. **_Woah. Ew. Nasty sentence._**

_Is this really the time?!_

"Not bad, but not good either." He commented, swinging me back to the tree I landed against before.

I ran back at him, sending a flurry of kicks and fists, him blocking all and returning some of his own. Then, I was kicked back again.

I grunted, exhausted. **_What's wrong with us? Performing that genjutsu nearly drained us of our chakra reserves! And we're so weak; we can hardly move! And we hurt like a bitch!_**

I tried to stand up. _Scratch that. We __**can't **__move._

Then, I saw a blur of blue and orange fling themselves at Kakashi. I realized those blurs were Naruto and Sasuke.

Kakashi started backing up to have more room, also holding off Naruto's advances and Sasuke's ninjutsu.

I felt myself blacking out. _W-what the…_

* * *

_Ugh…I feel like something decided to use my head as a boxing dummy…_

I was waking up. I tried moving but was restricted. _Is this…this is rope! But why-_

I snapped my eyes open, finding my sensei looking at me and Sasuke and Naruto on either sides of me, eating bento.

I looked at Kakashi's waist, void of 2 silver bells.

**_So we failed, huh? I guess that's the bad feeling you were having yesterday._**

_Probably._

"So you're finally up, huh?" I looked back up to my sensei, sensing a lecture coming. **_This isn't going to be good…_**

"That, I must say, was pitiful. I'll admit you put up an effort, but it wasn't a great one." He started. He kept my gaze at him, my face impassive, trying not to let his words hurt me. **_Geez, you don't hold back, do you?_**

_Shut up, Inner._

"What was up your performance, Sakura? How could you hope to become a ninja with skills like that? I'll admit you have some determination, but determination will only take you so far, especially with skills like that. You need to improve your physical attributes. You're smart, but it's not enough to make up for how **weak** you are." I winced involuntarily. **_Not the W-word...who knew he could be so cruel…_**

"Naruto and Sasuke are much farther ahead of you. Naruto isn't very strong but he's stronger than you even, and Sasuke is pretty good for his age. That gap between those two isn't as drastic as the one between you and them." _Great. Now _you're **_acknowledging _**_that gap? Does he really have to make a huge speech, too?_

"Those two have been through so much, more than you can ever hope to understand, yet they persevered and became stronger from it. You however, are not any stronger. You'd think you'd be stronger, without all those hardships pulling you down, but I guess not. No, I'm not saying that you haven't been through any pain, but none to compare to those two's." I almost looked down, but I kept my gaze at him, hiding my pain so he couldn't see it. At the same time, I was nearly boiling with anger.

"I suppose I thought too much of you. I overestimated you. I should send you back to the academy." My stare never wavered. "But…you did realize the point of this exercise; teamwork, and you attempted it. However, you were rejected and was too late before you can ask your other teammate. And, you also caught on and ate instead of not eating like I told you to. I'll give you props for that, at least. You are also quite intelligent, as far as I can tell. But if those were the only reasons, I'd still fail you."

He paused, looking at all of us now, but I still only looked at him. "'Those that disregard the rules are scum, yes. But those who abandon and disregard their comrades are worse than scum.' If there's one thing I want you all to remember from today, it's that."

He turned to me again. "I'll give you another chance Sakura. You seem to have some potential. But also know that if your teammates have to protect you all the time, you'll bring the team down. You need to become stronger." I nodded to show my understanding.

There was a moment of silence, my poker face never wavered.

I spoke.

"…Is that all?" Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi looked at me. _Obviously, they weren't expecting an indifferent reaction and were expecting a waterfall of tears instead._

"If that's all, I understand and would appreciate if you'd untie these ropes. They're getting irritating."

After getting over his shock, Kakashi untied me from the infamous stump. However, Sasuke and Naruto were still staring at me. Sasuke almost warily, and Naruto…I'm not sure, but I'm sensing shock there.

Kakashi then stood up and turned to the trees for some reason. "Hey, you! I know you're there! Show yourself! You've been watching us since we started the test."

I was astonished. _How did I not sense anyone?_

**_Maybe it has something to do with our chakra and strength out of whack. _**

The figure jumped down from the tree and chuckled a little. "I was wondering when you'd call me out Kakashi-sempai**(3)**. May I call you that? And yes; I have been watching since the beginning."

_That voice…Wait a minute! That's Sai!_

**_He hadn't changed much. He only looks…well younger. Duh._**

I ignored Inner.

I was curious about why Sai was here, and in his ROOT uniform.

But luckily, Kakashi asked for me.

"Why are you here? Did Danzo send you…?"

"Sai. I am Sai. That's my permanent name now." Sai supplied, testing the name on his tongue as if trying to get used to the feeling of having a name to himself. _Sometimes, I forget he didn't know what it was like having a name to identify himself before…so sad…_

"…Sai. You can may me… 'sempai', but what are you here for?"

Sai's usual fake smile didn't waver. **_Man, now we have to start over with his emotions training!_**

"Lord Danzo sent me. He asked me to observe your team to see how they fared against you. I think you know why."

Sasuke glared at Sai, wondering who he was exactly. Naruto was the same.

"What's he planning?" Kakashi questioned cautiously.

"It's nothing terrible by your standards, or bad at all for that matter. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't exactly tell you. But you'll find out soon." Kakashi looked like he was torn between being relieved or suspicious.

"Who are you?" demanded Sasuke. Kakashi and Sai turned to him, like they forgot he was there.

Sai simply answered and sent his fake smile toward him. "My name is Sai. I'm 14, by the way. I presume you're the famous Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You don't seem like all that to me. You only seem cocky and arrogant, hardly very strong at all. What do people see in you?"

Sasuke was officially pissed. "What!?"

Sai seemed unperturbed. "I know what I'll call you…"

_Pleasedon'tbeTraitor…pleasedon'tbeTraitor…pleasedon'tbeTraitor…_

"…Cockatoo. Yes. I like that one. Now – you're Naruto Uzumaki?" He turned to our favorite ramen eater.

**_OMG! That's kinda funny! And it's about time someone else came up with a new nickname for his hair!_**

"Yeah…" Now Naruto was preparing himself for some insults. "Hm. I'm a little disappointed. Who wears bright orange with white and blue? You're also a lot shorter than I expected."

Great._ He pulled the short card._

**_That's Sai for you._**

"SHUT UP, ASSHOLE! What are you anyway? Why is Kakashi-sensei your sempai? Aren't you a genin like us?"

For a minute, Kakashi, Sasuke and I just stared at him. _I wasn't expecting him to brush of the insults that quickly, and by the looks of it, neither were the others. Neither did I expect him to ask such an obvious…he's sharper than I thought he would be in this time._

"Sai…is from a part of ANBU. ROOT, or The Foundation, to be exact." Kakashi explained, over his initial shock.

"_ANBU_?" Sasuke asked, still angry at Sai, his jealously barely hidden from his voice.

"Those at ROOT are trained from a very young age, and only when we finish the final test do we become _official _ANBU ROOT members. I passed it already, so I'm an official member." Sai had supplied.

Kakashi was surprised. "Already? Wouldn't that make you the youngest to pass?"

Sai's face was already void of its (fake) smile; void of expression altogether. _So painful to look at…that means Shin's-…he must not be taking it very well._ "Yes, I guess it does."

"Does that make you ANBU level!?" hollered Naruto, curious.

"Not quite. Though I passed the academy when I was 9 and became a chunin at 10, so I'm above Chunin level. I don't think I can beat Kakashi though, who's a jonin that was formerly in the ANBU Black Ops. There's no way I can beat him. But I can put up a good fight. Does that help?"

I could clearly see the angry jealousy in Sasuke's eyes. He was jealous that someone so close to his age was also someone who was so far ahead of him; who can defeat his brother sooner than he could.

**_We need to work faster, Outer. He's already sprouting that evil seed. If it continues to let it grow, it'll be like the future. And that seed thing was a metaphor, of course._**

_For sure. We need to make him not hate us first, though. Also, you sound like some old poet. _

Before Inner could reply, Sai acknowledged me. "Hello, Ugly. What is up?"

I chuckled, standing. "It's 'what's up', and I thought I told you not to insult people when you first meet them, Sai-kun?"

He fake smiled again. "Ah, yes. I remember when you hit me." He rubbed his cheek. "I can almost feel it just thinking about it. What was wrong with your performance today? It was positively abysmal."

_I think I already know it was awful, Sai-kun. No need to add salt on the wound._

"Er…not sure. So you completed the test?" I saw the look in his eye. Sadness, but relief. The last test would end with his brother sacrificing himself to let Sai pass, since Shin was going to die anyway.

"Yes…"

"Hey, wait a minute!" "You know each other?!" the former was Naruto and the latter was both Sasuke and Kakashi in unison.

I answered their shock. "Yeah. Ran into each other at the library one day. He's my friend."

"Yes. Friend. The Old Hag is my friend." Sai's "smile" was still there.

"Ugly? Old Hag? Are you calling Sakura-chan those things! She's pretty and not an old hag! You're obviously older than her!" I was flattered at Naruto's comment.

Sai still replied, though. "Yes, I am calling her those things. Those are my nicknames for her, and yours is Dickless. Sakura lets me call he those things when she's in a better mood because they're…what's the word? Oh. Endearing, I believe it was."

While Naruto was blowing up at his nickname and protesting that he wasn't in fact "dickless", Sasuke spoke up. "Excuse me, but I don't see how that's 'endearing'." Cue air-quotes.

I answered this time. "Sai is…emotionally stunted to put it nicely, so yes, for him, and to me **_now_**, it is _sort of_ endearing for separate reasons. But they still piss me off." _They're endearing because it reminds us of the future, and better times…_

Distinctly, I heard Naruto mutter something. "…endearing?...the hell...how's that endearing?..."

Sai nodded, then his phone made a dinging sound. _A text._

He pulled it out and checked his message, then showed it to me and I nodded. _Roger._

Sai turned to me and said, "I'll be going, Sakura. I will see you later."

"Bye, Sai-kun." I offered him a smile and turned to get my ninja pouch from the stump I was tied to when Sai's hand pulled on my wrist, dragging me toward him, and kissed me on the cheek.

I flushed, shocked, then saw an odd glint in his eye, and then got suspicious. After a second, I understood the situation as he disappeared between the trees.

My face didn't go back to my normal complexion, though. **_He's sly when he wants to be._**

_Definitely._

"HEY! Get back here, you asshole! Don't you kiss Sakura-chan like that!" When Naruto realized the effort was futile, he turned to me. "What was that, Sakura-chan? Are you over Teme, too, like Ino and are into that guy instead?!"

I tried not to look like that was the stupidest thing he's ever asked me. It wasn't, but it was still ridiculous. "What? No! He was just messing with you! I don't like him like that – at all! He's just a friend!"

The blonde wasn't convinced, looking at me incredulously. "Yeah. You two are _real_ friendly." Sasuke seemed curious, but I couldn't tell what Kakashi was thinking.

I smacked my forehead. _Idiot!_ "I assure you, I have no interest in a romantic relationship with Sai-kun and he would sooner eat an entire bowl of rotten, mushed, fruit and send himself to the emergency room than engage in such a thing with me. Believe me. Besides, I don't have a death wish, nor the heart." I mumbled the last part, thinking of Ino's growing feelings for Sai and her reaction if I liked him, too, as well as the fact that I'm doomed to love only Sasuke for eternity.

_I think I'm going to cheer myself up with what would happen if I made a bowl of those medicine balls I made once _**(4)**_ and Sai ate them all. Just a bite sent him running away. What about a whole __**bowl**__? Hmm…_

Naruto simply speculated my answer, but I had places to be.

"I'll be seeing you later guys, 'kay? I'll assume we're meeting tomorrow at 9 at the bridge, but if there's any change in plans, let me know."

I pulled out a piece of paper, wrote on it, then gave it to Kakashi. "I moved out of my parent's place and into an apartment. That's my address." He skimmed it and nodded, then put it in his pocket.

"Later, boys." With a wave and a smile, I headed between the trees. _Excuse me trees, but I have a meeting to get to.**(5)**_

* * *

***To the Boys and Kakashi***

**Normal POV**

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked his sensei.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"Don't you think you were a little too harsh on Sakura-chan when she was tied to the stump?"

Kakashi didn't seem fazed in the least. "Hardly. She needed to hear it, Naruto. I was surprised that she didn't cry though."

Sasuke nodded his agreement. "Aa. I was expecting her to burst into tears and fangirl over me more. She's been changing lately."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed.

"A little too fast, though." Sasuke added.

"Maybe you're just paranoid, Teme."

"Maybe, Dobe. But she seems different, it started the day we were assigned teams; yesterday. Her aura seemed…different. And she didn't freak out over me, although she almost hugged me."

"Maybe. But she seems to be changing for the better, bastard. Maybe we can ask her about it?"

"If she's changing like you said, I doubt she'll answer." Kakashi injected.

"How does she know that Sai guy so well?" Sasuke pondered.

"They really could be friends that met in the library, like Sakura said. I don't find anything suspicious about that, except that she seems to know more about him and his organization than she lets on. Secretive, almost. Or it can just be something between them that they keep sacred. You get that don't you?" Kakashi suggested.

"That doesn't explain their closeness, though. How'd we never see him before or know who he is?" Sasuke asked, obviously suspicious.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed. "He's pretty recognizable with that pale-to-the-point-of-white skin and all. And he seems pretty attractive, so you'd think she would've boasted about him before she changed. And how long did she know him?"

"Not sure. We should keep an eye on her, and him especially. She's hiding something from us and I don't trust him." Sasuke decided.

Kakashi looked at him, deadpanning. "Naruto's right. You _are _paranoid. But maybe we can keep an eye on them; but no spying or anything like that. When she's around us, you can observe her actions, and his. But no eavesdropping or spying, like I said. She might not be hiding anything, you know. We can trust her. But I think you're extra paranoid of Sai because you don't like him. But yeah, it's odd someone who Danzo regards so highly, makes me think that he'll make Sai his right-hand man when he's older, is so close to Sakura. But he doesn't seem like a bad guy. We'll see. Now go. Tomorrow. 9am. Bridge."

And the white haired man 'poofed' away.

Sasuke turns to leave. "Bye, Dobe." He left too.

Naruto groaned, rubbing his tummy. "I need Ichiraku's. I hope I still have some coupons."

With that, he headed off to fulfill his ramen-filled fantasy.

* * *

**(1): **Hypnos is the Greek god of sleep. Morpheus is the god of dreams, btw. I mix the two up often.**  
****(2): **Those are the actual names of Sakura's parents. Their names and looks were released when Road to Ninja came out in Japan. **  
(3): **If you didn't know, "sempai"=upperclassman. It doesn't always have to be your literal, school, upperclassman, but someone who's a bit more experience in something than you. Sakura could call Shizune "Shizune-sempai" because Shizune is her senior in Tsunade's apprenticeship. Ino could call Sakura "Sakura-sempai" for the same reason. In Sai and Kakashi's case, Sai calls him "Kakashi-sempai" for the same reason as Yamato - Kakashi is their senior ninja. He is in a higher rank than them, or have been in the same rank longer and first. Naruto and the others (Konoha 12) can't call him that because they're (some of them) his students, and are too many ranks below. Get it?  
**(4): **Remember that episode where Naruto was training with Kakashi to learn the Rasenshuriken and Sakura watches him, makes him medicine balls, and decides to give them to him when he's done training? Sai was there too, and she offered one to him, to see how it tasted, and it was repulsive to him. She tried it next, and nearly puked. It was terrible tasting because, to make it nutritious she put too many healthy ingredients in it, forgetting about taste.  
**(5): **When I first wrote that line, I was thinking of the meeting in the last chapter, forgetting that it already happened. For now, just think of it as a daily report sort of meeting with the others. They won't do it everyday, but just to see what Sakura's bad feeling meant.

**Hope you liked it!**

**BTW, how was your guys' Valentine's Day? You can tell me about it via review, PM, or whatever!**

**Don't forget to review! **

**I **WILL NOT **update without reviews! **

**Love, Cherry.**


	5. Chapter 5: Waves Part 1

**Saturday, March 2nd, 2013.**

**Next Saturday (March 9th) is Tenten's birthday! Cool! That doesn't mean I'll be updating this next Saturday, though. I'll be updating DoOver that weekend, though.**

**The regional science fair is on the 11th, so wish me luck! (We got in)**

**BTW, it **SNOWED** last Wednesday. That was the last day of school that week, since Arizona's the only state that has Rodeo Break. The next 2 days, we have a rodeo parade and stuff. That's why we have them off. The whole city (Tucson) participates.**

**Anyway, Tucson RARELY gets snow. Oro Valley, practically an extension of Tucson, does sometimes, but this part of Tucson? The chances are slim to none. **

**So it was a huge surprise to see snow falling during our lunch break. The high schoolers (who have homeroom while we have lunch) had an assembly in the gym, so the moment it ended, they ran outside for the snow. If they hadn't had the assembly, I doubt they would have been allowed outside.**

**It was great seeing snow fall. I haven't seen snowfall since about 6-7 years ago, when I lived in Kansas. I've seen snow on the ground (at Mt. Lemmon, a local mountain) but not snow FALL. Sadly, the snow melted the moment it reached the ground due to the rain that fell before it. So we had to enjoy while it was falling. It was great though.**

**Sadly, that day, it was also 22°, which broke a 1936 record for this time of year. That's right. The last time it was 22° this time of year in this area was BEFORE THE GREAT DEPRESSION. Sheesh.**

**I also had a cold that week, so standing out in the snow had me absolutely miserable for the rest of the week. Thank goodness there wasn't any school.**

Dedication: **the FMA/FMAB fanon/canon couple, Royai. Why? I like that couple, plus I felt like it since I just learned the reason RoyxRiza is called** _Royai_**. The first part is Roy's name, obviously, and the second part is possibly for love ("ai"=love in Japanese) as well as to sound like "eye", since Riza's last name is HawkEYE, and her nick name is the "Hawk's Eye". Oh, and Gn. Grumman is her grandfather on her mom's side. Who knew? Grumman knows this, but it's unclear if Riza does.  
BTW, Arakawa (the creator of FMA) states the reason she didn't have Mustang marry Riza in the series was because if he did, they couldn't continue their officer & and subordinate relationship. Such a relationship can't happen in the military, especially so high in it. That's the only reason those two didn't officially get together. X3  
Also, the dedication is to my friend** _yeahthatsme_ **on TeenInk. Read her stuff, please?  
And finally, my last dedication goes to my friend who's middle name is Sai, last name Nara, and though she isn't into anime herself, she has a friend who is. Best wishes on her family problems.**

**Anyhoo, I have a new chapter for you all. Enter, the Land of Waves! It's begun! READ, my loves!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Waves Part 1

* * *

**Sakura POV**

2 months and a half have passed since the bell test. During that span of time, we had our team picture taken, chased after poor Tora dozens of times, ran into Konohamaru Corps half that many times, (even trained with them a bit) and did other miscellaneous missions together as a team.

Our team picture, for your information, is very similar to our old one, but behind Naruto and I, next to Kakashi, was Sai. He had his usual fake smile on his face, but if you looked closely, you could see it was partially real.** _Looks like emotional re-rehab won't be _**_too_**_ hard._**

I like how things are right now. Me, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Kaka-sensei, and Sai-kun… we've gotten a lot closer than I would have thought we would have in this amount of time. We're always together, and Sasuke actually laughs.

Sometimes.

He doesn't smile often -it's** very** rare- but when he does, my heart beats so fast I think the stars can hear it. It just…as cheesy as it sounds…makes my world. Like everything will be okay.

_Maybe I'm reading too many shoujo…_

**_It's not our fault the truth is cliché._**

We're (the whole team, not just Sasuke-kun and I, peoples) not as close as we were before Sasuke's departure in the past, but we're getting there – it's quite promising.

Now. To why Sai's with us. 4 weeks after the Bell Test, Lord Hokage added Sai to our team. (We told Lord Hokage everything)

* * *

_**FLASHBACK NO JUTSU!**_

* * *

_"You called us, Lord Hokage?" said Kakashi, leading Naruto, Sasuke-kun, and I into the Hokage Office. _

_I noticed Sai next to our Kage. _

**Ooh! Sai's going to be put on our team, isn't he?**

I hope so Inner…

_"Everyone," started our village's leader. "This is Sai. You may know him already. He will be joining Team 7 as a permanent member."_

_Silence._

**. . . .**

_"WHAT?" Sasuke and Naruto cried in unison. Well, Sasuke didn't shout, but he happened to say the same thing at the same time Naruto had shouted it. You know those two._

_"That's right. Sai is permanent. You will have 5 instead of the usual 4 members, but I think he will work well with you. That is all. You may leave."_

_Kakashi and I pushed Naruto -who was frozen- out the door, a brooding Sasuke and a fake-smiling Sai followed behind us._

* * *

_**FLASHBACK NO JUTSU: RELEASE!**_

* * *

We even took another team picture with Sai in it.

Anyway, today's an important day.

What day is it you ask? Sasuke-kun's birthday?

Kakashi got a girlfriend? I wish.

Sai wore the spandex suit again? **_Over our dead body!_**

Today's the day we're assigned the Waves mission!

Well, in the other past, it wasn't really this day or year – for some reason, everything is a year after it was before. So I'm already 14, and instead of turning 13, Sasuke-kun's turning 14 in about 2 months.**(****1) _I wonder why…not that I'm complaining… – but when we walked into the office of Hokage-sama, I knew._**

Well, Naruto's shouting about a harder mission may have helped. A bit.

Just a bit.

Anywhoo, we got assigned the Wave mission after an interesting argument between Naruto and his older foster brother/former sensei, Iruka.

* * *

"…Too Immature? _Immature?!_ You're the one who always gets all pouty and whiny when I don't eat my vegetables! Some adult _you_ are!"  
"I do _not_! Quit making things up!"

Somewhere along the line, the argument started involving…romance. Don't ask how because I don't know. Maybe they have a need to best each other in every area because that's just what guys do sometimes? Who knows...

"…can't even realize when a girl has a MAD crush on you! And you call yourself perceptive!"  
"What?! You know too? How come- ack! Anyway, I am **_so_** perso-…persk-…whatever you said!"  
"Really? You couldn't even say the word."  
"Well that doesn't matter 'cause I'll get a girl sooner before you ever will!"  
"I don't really know how that relates to perception, but _really_ now? Who?" Iruka's voice was flat, incredulous.  
"…Sak-"  
"No way in hell, Naruto! We've been over this!" That was me, obviously.  
"See? Can't even seem to understand when a girl says no. _Totally_ perceptive and lady savvy." **_Ooh…ouch. But seriously? "Lady savvy"? That isn't going to help him get a girl anytime soon._****  
**"Y-yeah, w-well, I'm not the one muttering a woman's name in my sleep!" This got me interested. Heck, even Sasuke and Kakashi were leaning forward; Kakashi likely having intentions of using the info for a certain something starting with "black" and ending with "mail."

"I don't talk in my sleep."  
"YES. YOU. DO! I even recorded it!"  
"Oh? A-and wh-who's name was I calling?" _**Someone's** nervous~._  
"Something like Mizune, or something. Ooh! Ooh! I know! _Shi_zune! You were all, 'oh, Shizune…you're so pretty…and smart…and I'm way better than…'. I think you said Kakashi. Not sure…point is, you're in love with this chick. And I got all the proof I need on tape."

At this, we witnessed how fast a person can pale, then turn red.

"0.7 seconds," Sai said. He turned to me. "Might I look like if I get sunburnt?"

Not trusting myself to not burst into laughter, I nodded.

* * *

After that was over, we waited for Tazuna; Iruka, obviously embarrassed, hastily excused himself under the pretense of getting coffee.

"I'd like some too, _Iruka-chan_!" Naruto had called after him.

I couldn't help but giggle at Naruto's comment, as sorry as I felt for Iruka.

_Naruto's enjoying his victory so much I __**know**__ he will _**NEVER**_ let Iruka-sensei live this down. But I have to admit, it was pretty entertaining!_

I guess the others felt the same, since Sasuke-kun and Sai both chuckled a bit. Sai covered it with a cough, Sasuke-kun did it quietly, and Kakashi…he didn't even bother to hide it.

Maybe I should ask him about his relationship with "Shizune" (while pretending I don't know her) to make him uncomfortable.

Knowing him, he'd turn the conversation around to make me really confused and wonder what I asked in the first place, or answer calmly. Either way gives me an undesired result.

**_Shizune, Iruka, and Kakashi…a love triangle (or maybe not, knowing Kakashi)…why does this sound familiar?_**

_Oh!_

I slapped my first into my hand, making an "a-ha!" gesture.

The others looked at me confusedly. "What is it?" Naruto asked.

I blushed at the unwarranted attention, and quickly came up with an excuse. "Uh, I just remembered the last part of the physics formula for-"

"Nevermind," my friend quickly said before I could finish.

I couldn't help but smile. _The moment I start getting into anything relatively scientific, mathematic, historic, at times, or anything advanced or academic, Naruto tries to tune out. Naruto calls it, "showing off my 'Smarticle Particles'." He's ridiculous, I'm telling you._

_But anyway Inner, I remember one night after training with Tsunade, the three of us (Shizune, Tsunade, and I) sat in the Hokage office, too tired to leave. Tsunade had taken out some sake and she and Shizune were drinking it. I'll admit, I drank a few sips. Blame Tsunade's influence. _

_Anyhow, Shizune, tipsy, started talking about her interest in Iruka (which we already knew about), and that she likes him a lot despite that she isn't into younger men. __**(2)**__ She also talked about her former_ thing_ for Kakashi when she was younger. Apparently, when the two were in their mid-/late-teens, they had dated. But they didn't like each other enough to continue their relationship, so they broke up. And Shizune liked Iruka a bit at the time, too. _

_They slept together a couple times after that, apparently. They both say (according to Tsunade, who had asked Kakashi about it once) that it wasn't anything romantic. Random, one-night-stands that neither of them minded. And since Iruka is a teacher and Shizune was traveling with Tsuande, the two didn't meet each other much, so they longed for their crushes/loves for a long time, still not having dated or even slept together. (Kakashi met Shizune on missions, which is how they had their "escapades")_

_So that must have been the same here, so Iruka is jealous of Kakashi for it. Luckily, Shizune and Kakashi have no feelings for each other, and Shizune likes Iruka._

**_Oh! Now I remember. I wish it wasn't Kakashi, though…we don't need to know about our teacher's sex-life….*shiver* But we should get those two together._**

_We should Inner._

"Are these the brats that are supposed to escort me? I think I'd be better off on my own!"

I almost jumped, forgetting I was here with my team, waiting for the man were supposed to escort for our mission.

Then I scowled when I realized he called us brats. _Sheesh. Even now he gets on my nerves._

"I assure you…?" Kakashi began.

"Tazuna."

"I assure you, Tazuna-san, that we are very capable of doing our job. Believe me."

Tazuna pushed off the doorframe and stood, pointing at us. "Oh, I believe you, but what about those kids? The short one looks really stupid."

"Hahaha! He called one of you guys stupid! Can you believe it? Ha-…ha. Ha... What are you guys staring at me like that for?" I don't think I need to tell you who that was.

Unconsciously, or to prove a point, we lined up next to Kakashi in a tallest-to-shortest order, Kakashi being the tallest (obviously).

To the right of him was Sai. Next to Sai was Sasuke (who wasn't very happy of Sai surpassing him by a couple of centimeters), and next to Sasuke was me. (He's about 10 centimeters taller. It makes me feel short.)**(3)**

We all turned to look at Naruto, who was a little off to my right, completing the line. (Sasuke was to my left)

"E-Ehh?! **_I'm_** the shortest?" Naruto sputtered. " What the hell! I'm not dumb!"

Tazuna simply rolled his eyes. "What's with the dyed hair, anyway? Isn't that a little too noticeable for a _ninja_? And that pale skin **can't** be natural. What'd you do? Bleach yourself?"

I narrowed my eyes. "My hair is natural, for your information, believe it or not. And Sai-kun's skin tone is perfectly natural as well."

Tazuna snorted. _He's __**so**__ getting on my nerves…_ "Right."

Kakashi jumped in before one of us could punch him in the face. "Despite appearances, the team is quite talented. Sai, for instance –the pale one– is above the normal level of genin; Chunin level, likely. Sasuke –the one in the blue shirt– is an Uchiha prodigy, Sakura's very intellectually gifted, and Naruto is well known for his stamina and…unique… fighting… ability."

"Meaning he's just ridiculously unpredictable," I whispered.

Sasuke must have heard, because he smirked. It made me smile. _I can get used to this…_

* * *

Here we were, walking.

And walking.

And walking.

...It was only a matter of time before Naruto tried to get some conversation out of us.

"Sooo…nice weather, huh?"

I couldn't resist rolling my eyes and sighing in exasperation. "Even I can think of a better ice breaker than that, Naruto."

Naruto "hmphed" and crossed his arms, pouting (cutely).

"Oh, really then? What is it?"

I smiled, and in answer, turned to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san, what is living in the Land of Waves like?"

I guess Naruto realized my ice-breaker was better than his, because he pouted more, but turned to Tazuna as well, wanting to know about Waves as well.

The man in question took swig of sake from his bottle, and sighed. "Well, it's a poor country. We make money off of trade and our bridge-building…"

I began to tune out –I already knew this, anyway– as I saw the infamous puddle.

I darted my eyes to Kakashi, to meet his. He noticed, and nodded to me. "_I noticed it, too,"_ his eyes seemed to tell me.

I quickly glanced at Sai. He nodded as well. _"I saw."_

Then to Sasuke. He nodded his head over to the puddle. "_Did you see?"_

I softly nodded to him. _"Yes."_

It was unspoken that we now had our guards up – well, they already were, of course, but more than they were before.

"…**_HOW_** could you _live_ with only _one_ ramen eatery in the entire village!" **_I'm surprised he knew the word "eatery" and how to use it._**

As I inwardly nodded at my Inner, I noticed Sasuke's expression flatten at Naruto's outburst. I couldn't help but think, _He's _totally_ groaning on the inside._

I couldn't hold my giggle. _He's just like the old Sasuke. Well, he _is_ the old Sasuke! But we're closer now!_

"Waves is a quite a small village compared to Konoha, Naruto. Besides – we may have like 5 or 6 ramen restaurants or stands –that I know of– but you only eat at one! Kinda hypocritical, don't you think?" I said.

"But still, Sakura-chan…" Naruto said dejectedly. "So little ramen…" shiver. _So he pitied the people of Wave for one ramen stand._

**_Only you, Naruto._**

"And besides! I eat at Ichiraku only because the other places' ramen are like, _'eh. It's okay but eh'_. And Ichiraku's is all,_ 'holy mozzarella sticks! This is the _**shit**_!__ Not like bad shit, but good shit-…you know what I mean'_ every time I eat it? I think it's a reasonable explanation to choose Ichiraku." Naruto crossed his arms, looking proud of himself.

From a little ways off beside me, I heard Sasuke mutter, _"…reasonable explanation, my ass. You're the only one who thinks in terms like that, Dobe."_

I laughed as silently as possible. He smirked my way.

As you could guess, my heart totally cliché-ly skipped a beat, and my face got a bit warm. Luckily, it wasn't visible.

I hoped so, at least. _My face didn't feel _too_ warm..._

Kakashi had his eyebrow raised for a moment, then went back to reading his beloved "literature masterpiece".

_Maybe it wasn't so invisible._

"Hey, Sai-teme! You haven't said a word –well neither has Sasuke-teme, but he's Sasuke– but've been drawing this whole time instead. Whatcha' drawin'?"

All of us turned to the pale 14-year-old. _I almost forgot about him._

"Well, Dickless, I'm drawing this." He turned his sketchbook towards us, showing us a still-life drawing of the trees and earth we were walking past. Poking out of a bush was a brown rabbit –was that a hint to Haku's rabbit? But Haku's is white…– and a swallow that was flying out of branches of a tree. It was outlined in color and black – an array of browns and greens and blacks and tans. It was very good, but I felt something was missing…

I'm no artistic expert, but even I could see that it didn't have any… "umph" to it.

_That's it!_

As Naruto and I got closer to Sai in the future and the more time that passed, the more life his drawings had. Now that he's reduced to square 1.001, (not quite square 1, but hardly past that) his drawings may look great, but be lifeless all the same.

I looked up into Sai's eyes (he was taller than me, remember?) as we were walking and was surprised to find him already staring at me.

I tried to convey my message through my eyes, and at first, Sai didn't seem to get it, confused.

But after a couple seconds, understood what I was trying to convey to him. I guess my sad eyes and thinned lips helped.

"Whoa! Were you always this good, Sai?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hn. It's nice, I guess. It feels like it's missing something, though…" I was surprised to see that Sasuke noticed something was absent, even though he wasn't able to identify it. _I forgot how sharp he can be..._

"So we have ourselves a little artist, do we?" Tazuna commented.

Kakashi was about to open his mouth to state his own thoughts, but tensed for a second. Sai tensed as well, putting the drawing away; Sasuke and I both tensed also. _They're here!_

"Wh-"

**_"JUMP!"_** Kakashi yelled, interrupting Naruto.

We complied, even Tazuna jumping as high as he could.

Under us, 2 spiked balls and chains whipped below our feet, _just_ missing us completely.

**_Phew! That was a close call!_**

_Yeah. Too close._

Sai immediately threw 3 kunai in the direction the chains came from.

"Well, well, well. What have we here, Aniki?**(4)**"

"I think we got ourselves a group of kids, the old man we want, and a ninja with a bounty. Lucky day for us, Otouto.**(5)**"

"Who are you?" Kakashi demanded, as we got into a battle formation, just like the one from before, in the other past. "Come out!"

Out from the trees to our right, stepped the Demon Brothers, just as ugly and nasty as before.

"Ah…the legendary Hatake Kakashi. What a pleasure it is meeting you!" As the (I presume) older brother said this, he threw his chain around Kakashi, effectively trapping him before he could escape.

However, for some reason, the chain was wrapped around Sai as well, trapping him back-to-back to our sensei. Judging from the Demon Brother's expression, he was either okay with this development, or it was intended.

"Since you're both in our way, we'll just have to get rid of you! You kid, seem a bit stronger than the others, so you're first with Hatake!" The other brother wrapped his own chains around Kakashi, as well.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sai!" Naruto and I yelled. Tazuna was frozen in place, Sasuke was about to charge the brothers.

I wasn't so worried for Kakashi – he turns out fine; I know that. But Sai…I don't know what's going to happen.

_I know he wouldn't die so easily but still! You never know!_

"Bye, now!" The two brothers said unison, pulling their chains, slicing through our teammate and sensei.

We all stood; frozen, as a dark, warm, liquid splashed on our clothes.

* * *

**(1): I made them a year older than they should be for romantic convenience. By the way, I'm estimating that it's about late May, nearly/early June. The bell test was about 2 weeks before Sakura's birthday; March 28. So if I said she was 14 then, I apologize. Since Sasuke's birthday is July 23, his birthday is in nearly 2 months. If you have any questions about this, ask in the reviews or PM me.  
(2): Believe it or not, in Shippuden, Shizune's 31. The same age as Kakashi. Iruka's 26, and currently, in the story, he's 24. I'm making Kakashi and Shizune younger than they should be; (29, right now) so RIGHT NOW, they're both 28. I don't want Kakashi older than Shizune, and due to canon facts and Kakashi's past, I can't have him too young. **  
**(3): Since Naruto (the anime) is Japanese, and not all my beloved viewers may not be American or from an American province, I'm trying to use the metric system in measurements. I don't think I'm going to mention weight so I won't have to worry about transferring pounds into kilos, so yeah...centimeters and stuff it is. I actually used a ruler to gouge how much taller I wanted Sasuke to be than Sakura. Honest.**  
**(4): It's another word for "older brother". If you've seen One Piece, the Franky Family refers to Franky with this suffix all the time. (Water 7 & Enies Lobby Arcs)**  
**(5): "Little brother". If you've seen sub at all, you should probably know this one. Itachi calls Sasuke this all the time. In non-flashback cases, "foolish" is usually added to the beginning of it.**

**No end-of-the-chapter comments for you guys. I want to keep the suspense levels up. (born from my cliffhanger)**

**-Cherry**


	6. Chapter 6: Team 7 vs The Demon Brothers

**Saturday, March 16th, 2013.**

**Hey, lovelies!**

**I plan to write a Sakura (or SasuSaku, or Team 7 friendship/family-ness) one-shot for her birthday on the 28th. Any ideas?**

**I got a DeviantArt. I can't draw for shit, so don't expect any artwork. I plan on posting my fanfiction there, too. (I'm EpicOtakuCherry)**

**I'm starting a Question of the Week thing like I did for DoOver, so if you scroll down to the bottom, you'll this week's question. I'll give you my own answer next time I update.**

IF I RECIEVE 4-5 REVIEWS AT LEAST, FOR THIS CHAPTER, I'LL UPDATE AGAIN NEXT WEEK.

**It's my Spring Break that week, so I should have time between cramming for projects, going to a friend's house, and an anime convention.**

**That's right. Anime convention.**

**It's my first, and I plan to go next Fri-Sun. Apparently, there's a local anime convention every year, and I only found out about it a while ago.**

**It's called Con-Nichiwa. If you live in the Tucson, Arizona, area, it's at the Palo Verde Holiday Inn, next Fri-Sun. Register for it by next Thursday.**

**So, yeah.**

**If it's any incentive for any of you guys to go, Steve Blum is going to be there. He plays Zabuza, Orochimaru, Spike from Cowboy Bepop, Guilmon from Digimon Tamers and other various digimon from any of the series, Wolverine from many Wolverine incarnations/shows, Leeron from Gurren Lagann, the robot host of Toonami, Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII, and Tank Dempsey from Call of Duty, etc.**

**Greg Ayres is going to be there, too. He plays Son Goku from Saiyuki, Kaworu from the Director's Cut of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Chrono from Chrono Crusade, Negi from Negima, Heihachi from Samurai 7, Satoshi from DN Angel, Pope Alessandro XVIII from Trinity Blood, etc.**

**Yeah...**

**Anyhoo, **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. If you thought I did, we need to have a talk.**

**I think that's all I have for you guys. I don't feel like typing out the Dedication.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Team 7 vs. The Demon Brothers

* * *

**RECAP**

_"Bye, now!" The two brothers said unison, pulling their chains, crushing our teammate and sensei._

_We all stood, frozen as a dark, warm, liquid splashed on our clothes._

**END OF RECAP**

* * *

**Sakura POV**

I raised my shaking hands to my face, looking at the dark, warm, slightly thick liquid that had stained parts of my face and my clothes. "Wh-what?"

_No! No no no! They can't die! Not Sai! Not Kakashi-sensei! How am I going to break it to Gai-sensei? What am I supposed to tell Ino? How am I supposed to tell my best friend her crush died and I couldn't-didn't-do anything to stop it?! I already lost them, I can't lose her, too! I __**can't**__!_

I don't know why I was freaking out. I shouldn't right? _Th-they're f-fine, right?_

"Sakura! Get down!" Sasuke's voice calmed me a little bit, and jarred me out of the fear-induced trance I was in, pushing Naruto and me down to the ground. _Oh right…it's j-just us now. _

However, I was shaken enough to not acknowledge, hardly notice that Sasuke was now on top of me, pressed against me. Protecting me.

However, I _was_ in-tune with the outside world enough to notice Tazuna on the ground -I guess Sasuke pushed him down, too- a few feet behind us.

I also noticed, Naruto shaking in fear, just like before. _That's it! Wh-what's our purpose here?_

"Tazuna-san! Tazuna-san!" I said almost frantically.

The first time I was speaking to the man himself, to see if he was conscious or not. He was.

The second time, I was speaking to Sasuke and Naruto. "We have to protect Tazuna-san!"

I shook Naruto's shoulder vigorously, bringing him back into the outside world, as well to release this pent up energy panic has given me. **_I hope we didn't shake him_ too_ hard. _****  
**

I'm sure Sasuke at least already knew that we had to protect Tazuna, but I was really saying this to remind myself that no matter what, we have a mission to complete and a man to protect. _That's right...a mission. A mission._

The rest will have to wait until later.

"You brats are next!" The Brothers shouted in unison.

Now standing, -with Tazuna hidden in the trees and a genjutsu of mine so no one could see him- Sasuke, Naruto and I pulled out kunai and shuriken, in a fighting stance.

"Now, Naruto, take that side and make sure they don't get through to Tazuna. Sakura get behind me and-"

"No!" I said. "I'm part of the team, too! I'm fighting!"

"But-" I cut him off with a fierce look, and leaped to the side, charging the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. _I can't believe I forgot their names. That's unlike me!_

"Hey, bozos!" I shouted, bringing their attention to me. I sighed inwardly. _This plan is worthy to be one of Naruto's. If only I could concentrate long enough to think of a better plan….this'll have to do for now._

"You wanna be next, girlie?" The younger brother –I assume, though they're twins– said. "Gozu, **(1)**I'll take care of her, 'kay? You can have the others – maybe I can **_play_** with her after she's **dead**."**(2)**

I could tell Meizu (the one who spoke, and whom I think is younger) was grinning under his mask, and I suppressed his shiver. **_Creep alert._**

The older brother, Gozu, rolled his eyes. "As long as you aren't too messy, Brother. I hate washing your bloody clothing."

Judging by Meizu's reaction -leaping at me excitedly like a blood-thirsty hound- I concluded Gozu was likely calmer and level-headed; the brains of the two. In contrast, Meizu was the brawn –_well, they're both the strengths of the team, but Meizu may be more dedicated to it, I guess_– and very violent, probably short-tempered.

Sure seems like it.

_Shit! If I ended up with Gozu, I might have been able to outsmart him! I mean, he may be the smarter one, but I'm positive I'm smarter than him, and he isn't as physically…gifted as his brother! I'll have to use force on this guy…and this body isn't that strong._

I sneaked a look toward the boys.

_I can only hope Sasuke and Naruto will do alright…well, even if I fought Gozu, I can't exactly think very straight right now….maybe it _**is**_ good that I got Meizu instead._

I quickly moved to the side as Meizu ran towards me, grabbing the hand closest to me (thankfully the one without the claw connected to the chains) and twisting it harshly, making him cringe and wince harshly.

_If I stick with close combat, he won't be able to use his chains. However, if I end up straying, the distance will allow him to use them. Better stick close._

As he was preoccupied with the sharp, temporary pain, I leaped up and did my best to land a roundhouse kick to his chest, nearly sending him to the ground, which was my intention.

However, it didn't work. _Damn! This guy's built like a brick wall! I'll need to try harder…_

"Not bad, girl. You were stronger than I thought. Now I'm even _more_ excited to kill you!" He said, punching me hard, sending me into a nearby tree.

"I'm flattered," I said, unable to resist, despite the pain in my jaw.

Luckily, I was expecting the punch so I was able to keep myself from letting my teeth cut the inside of my mouth and cause it to swell.

That didn't mean it didn't hurt, though. _At least it was the arm without the chain…that would've hurt __**WAY **__more._

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted, almost getting hit by Gozu.

"I'm fine, Naruto! Concentrate on your fight!"

The next moments in the fight with Meizu were spent hitting, dodging, kicking, slicing, dodging again, punching, and finally, swinging. (Swinging the chain and its ball.)

I was exhausted, and I mentally yelled at myself for being so. _My body isn't used to being pushed like this. I better finish this fast. Meizu seems to be getting a bit tired, too._

And it was true. He was panting and sweating and slower on his feet than before.

I took a glance over to Sasuke and Naruto's fight.

The two of them seemed to be doing well, without any major injuries, and Gozu seemed even more tired than his brother. Throughout their whole fight, Naruto seemed to be taunting him and pissing him off while fighting, distracting him while Sasuke attacked him repetitively.

**_Not bad, boys._**

"Pay attention, girly!" Meizu's voice made me remember that I was in a fight as well. However, it was too late for me to counteract his violent punch to my stomach. With the arm connected to the chains.

Did I ever tell you it was clawed? With metal? Possibly iron?

So yeah.

It hurt.

**_LIKE A BITCH!_**

"Gaghk!" I coughed up blood.

"Warned ya," the slime whispered in my ear. He pulled me up by my hair and looked me up and down. _I seriously need to cut my hair soon._

"Aw, too bad," he said. "If you were a little more developed, I might play with you a bit before killing you. Aw well. I'm not into kids anyway. Say goodbye, little girl!"

_**What a slimy bastard...*shiver***_

Meizu was about to crush my head to the ground (using my hair for momentum) when I kicked him **_hard_** where a man _really_ doesn't like to be kicked. At all. _Well…I normally don't resort to that, but desperate times call for desperate measures._

Did I mention I kicked him really hard? I mean he-may-never-have-children-hard.

Okay, maybe not _that_ hard, but it was a _damn_ good kick, nonetheless.

As Meizu was rolling around on the ground in [hilarious] agony and I stood on my feet, I snuck a glance to the boys.

Gozu and Naruto seemed to have turned blue, the two of them were not-so-discreetly cringing and crossing their legs. Sasuke's eye twitched, and he shivered. They had all paused their fight to watch for a moment.

_I bet Gozu's glad he didn't fight _**me**_._

Soon, Meizu recovered. Well, more or less.

He was still limping a bit, and making sure I was no where near his crotch. **_Serves you right, you son of a bitch! CHA!_**

He charged me, furious. "Why you bitch!"

_Time to end this._

Just before Meizu would've reached me, I jumped in the air, spun, and landed on his back, pressing a kunai to his throat.

"Don't move, or I'll kill you." I said darkly.

I didn't mean it though; I had no intention of killing. I may have done it before, as it's kind of unavoidable in a career of a shinobi, but that didn't mean I had to like it. I try to avoid it as much as possible.

"Not. So. Fast!" Meizu spit out from ground teeth, ramming me into a nearby tree by rushing backwards.

It knocked the breath out of me, as well as the kunai in my hand. He was turning around – to choke me with his clawed hand, I'm guessing – when I quickly kicked him in the neck, in an area that would almost crack his neck, but incapacitate him for sure. _About time…_

He fell like a sack of bricks to the ground, on his back with his eyes open.

I closed them, but checked his pulse while doing so. _Good…still alive._

Panting from the fight, I looked over to the boys, seeing they had just finished their fight, too.

"Take that, asshole!" Naruto yelled to Gozu's unconscious body.

Sasuke started dragging the body over to Meizu's.

"What are you doing, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked, walking closer to me and Meizu.

"I plan to tie their bodies together, Dobe. Do you have rope Sakura? I'm sure The Idiot doesn't." Surprising, Naruto didn't respond to this comment.

"Sorry – I have chakra strings but not enough to tie the two of them together."

"I do." We all turned to the voice, the owner holding a coil of good ol' fashioned hemp rope. **(3)**

* * *

"Sai! Kakashi-sensei!" We all shouted together.

"Wha-wh-what the freaking fu- fudge sticks is going on here?" Naruto exclaimed, stuttering and falling back.

Sasuke stared in shock, frozen in his actions, dropping Meizu and Gozu's bodies back unto the ground harshly in the process.

Not that I'm complaining or anything. _I_ **really**_ don't like those guys._

I ran to the two figures, however.

"Sai-kun!" I tackled him to the ground in a hug, the rope falling out of his hand. After a moment's hesitance, he hugged his arms around me as well.

Then I pulled away and slapped harshly Sai in the face.

"Don't. You. **_Ever_**. Do that to me again? Are. We. **Clear**?" I turned to Kakashi. "You too, mister."

The two nodded, Sai rubbing his very red cheek slowly and Kakashi taking a step away from me. _Someone's scared~..._

**_The slap mark looks so weird against Sai's skin._**

"You knew I was okay, though, didn't you? Kakashi as well. Then why were you so worried?" Sai didn't ask this because he was being an asshole, but because he was genuinely confused. He tilted his head to the side, adding to the "befuddled" look.

_He can be kind of adorable sometimes._

Naruto and Sasuke, as well as Kakashi, turned to me, waiting for my answer. I _know_ Naruto's thinking about how I knew they were alright, given my reaction.

I could practically **hear** the gears turning in his head and _see_ the steam exiting his ears.

I sighed. "Of course I knew you were alright. Sai would never die so easily and Kakashi's an ex-ANBU; there's better ways of going out than that. It's just…I expected ink to come from you, not blood, and I… panicked." I reverted my gaze to my floor. "Inwardly, I knew you were fine, but 'what ifs' were crowding my mind. The thought of losing my friend and sensei…scared me."

I looked back up when Sai's hand fell on my shoulder, and Kakashi's on my head in that affectionate, ruffling manor he used to do to Sasuke and Naruto.

I pushed back the urge to cry.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Sorry about scaring you like that Sakura. But good job on dealing with Meizu. I'm impressed."

I smiled at the compliment. _I rarely got acknowledged like that from him until Naruto came back in the future. It feels nice. _

"Sorry, U-…Sakura. I wanted to try and see if I could turn the ink red like blood. I didn't mean to scare you. Do you…forgive…me?" I looked up at Sai, who, in his eyes, was worried and begging for assurance.

I gave him a smile of reassurance. "I forgive you, Sai-kun. Just…don't give me a heart attack next time, alright?"

He looked stricken for moment, then calmed. _I think he thought I was serious about the heart attack thing at first._

"Right." He said.

"Now that that's over, I believe we have some questions to ask," Sasuke said.

My expression hardened. _I had almost forgotten…_

"Yeah!" Naruto said.

"Care to explain," Kakashi said, turning to the man in question. He was just where we left him, against a tree. "Tazuna?"

He gulped.

* * *

**(1): **The Demon Brothers: Gozu; the older twin and calmer. Meizu; younger twin, very violent. I consulted Narutopedia a lot when writing them. Sometimes, I got confused and mixed the two up in writing the chapter. I had to edit this thing a lot to get it right.**  
(2): **If you don't understand, when Meizu says "play", he means play with Sakura's body and touch it, possibly rape it after she's dead or is dying. Yeah. Creepy stuff, right?  
**(3): **Look it up. I think of it to be the typical, thick, rope you see in movies and stuff.

**So did you all like the chapter?**

**Let me know if I mixed up Gozu and Meizu again, if you notice it. I won't re-post the chapter, but I'd like to know.**

**I started a "Question-of-the-Week" thing in DoOver last week, so I'm going to do it here. **

**This week's question: (the questions for each story are going to be different)**

_"What's your favorite Naruto couple/pairing and why? Your personal OTP, even. (One True Pairing)."_

**I'll give you guys my answer when I update the next chapter, kay?**

**If I get 4-5 reviews, I'll update NEXT week, too! I have Spring Break that week, so I should be able to do it.  
And since the week after is the week I update ReWind anyway, that'll be 3 update weeks in a row!**

**So remember!**

AT LEAST 4-5 REVIEWS AND I'LL UPDATE NEXT WEEK!

AND SEND ME IDEAS FOR A SAKURA (or SasuSaku or Team 7 friendship) ONE-SHOT FOR HER BIRTHDAY ON THE 28TH!

**Love,**

**Cherry**


	7. Chapter 7: The Demon of the Mist

**Saturday, March 30th, 2013.**

**Hey guys!**

**I didn't update last week because I didn't have the reviews required to, so that's why if you were expecting it. You were close, though - 3. Just one more and I would've updated. Oh well.**

**I got to watch Greg Ayers, Wendy Lee, and last but not least, Steve Blum talk in a panel at the con. Unfortunately, we only got to get Wendy's autograph. Greg left early, and my dad waiting in the cold for one hour and with us for another half hour (love you dad) only for Steve to leave before we could get his autograph. That wasn't...awesome at all, but Steve was, at least. **

**Overall, Con-Nichiwa was fun.**

**Answer to question of the week: **SasuSaku is my favorite Naruto couple. I don't believe Sakura could love anyone else but Sasuke, and I think she's kind of proven that, and Naruto's even accepted that, more or less. And I feel, if Sasuke fell in love with anyone, if he let himself, it'd be with Sakura. I don't feel like going much more into depth about it. And don't you think they'd make a good couple? Obviously you do, if you're here. Plus - they're an amazing couple. Their relationship can be cute, real, dark, and heartwarming - love it.

**Disclaimer:** Sakura's birthday two days, so she'll do it.

**Sakura:** If she owned Naruto...Well, I'd had done a lot more. I already did this in your one-shot, Epic.

**Me:** I know. You're good now.

**Sakura: **Thanks. Bye!

**Me:** Bye.

**ATTENTION: **

_I wrote a SasuSaku, Team 7 bonding, one-shot for Sakura's birthday and posted it two days ago. Check on my profile for it, and it's in the K+ archive. **PLEASE READ IT!**_**  
**

**Now read on, my lovelies!**

* * *

Chapter 7: The Demon of the Mist

* * *

**RECAP**

_"Care to explain," Kakashi said, turning to the man in question. He was just where we left him, against a tree. "Tazuna?"_

_He gulped._

**END OF RECAP**

* * *

**Sakura POV**

"I-I've said it before, W-waves is a poor country!" Tazuna began, standing up from his place from the ground.

I'm kind of glad Tazuna didn't try and deny anything or something like that. Right now, I'm tired, sort of irate, and want to get all this stuff over with. _I'm not in the mood for beating around the bush._

"And because of your low budget, you decided to pay for a lower-ranking service rather than higher, regardless of the danger?"

All of us turned to Sasuke.

I guess none of us expected him to speak.

"Y-yeah-! Well, when you put it that way…" Tazuna said.

"Well because of that decision, you _did_ put all of us in danger and I suspect there's only more to come. These guys can't possibly be the worst after you, are they?" Kakashi said, almost glaring at Tazuna.

The older man gulped.

"Tell us who else is after you – who they work for. Now. I want to know _everything."_ Kakashi's voice was cold and threatening – the whole team (excluding Sai of course) shivered. Yes, even Sasuke.

He did it minutely, though. It was pretty hard to notice.

"G-g-gato! He hired "The Demon of the Mist", Momochi Zabuza and some lower, almost unknown brutes after me!"

Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Huh? Peaches?**(1)** A guy with a name like that couldn't possibly be _that_ threatening, can he?" Naruto asked. "Who are these Gato and Zabuza guys?"

Kakashi ignored him. "Anyone else?"

"I told you! Some other unknown rouges or something! I have no idea how many there are, but the only ones I know of are Zabuza, two of his lackeys, and this boy he always has with him!"**(2)**

"Why are they after you?"

Naruto was about to open his mouth again when I stopped him by placing my hand on his shoulder. I shook my head. "_Wait."_

He bit his lip, but nodded to me.

Tazuna looked to the ground for a moment.

He took a swig of his alcohol –that I had forgotten he still had– and looked up at Kakashi again. (Kakashi's taller than him.)

"I'm the head-bridge builder at my village," he said, sighing. "Many of the other workers quit but I had stayed and…"

He continued to explain about his work on the bridge and who Gato is, why he wants him dead, all that he knows about Zabuza, etc. He also explained a bit more about his choice of ranking [of the mission]. Nothing I haven't heard before.

"So…are you going to go back to Konoha?" Tazuna said. "Because if you do, I'll still go back to my village regardless. They need me, whether you come or not."

Kakashi stood, thinking.

"What do you wish for us to do Kakashi-sempai?" Sai asked.

"I say we continue the mission," Sasuke said, inserting his own input.

"I agree." I said – we need to complete this mission. It's necessary.

"Yeah! I mean, I think we proved we can take care of what's coming! Teme, Sakura-chan, and I took care of those guys all on our own! And with Sai and you, I think we'll kick ass! We'll be fine Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, an adorable determined expression on his face. _**He's so cute sometimes. I actually want to pet hit head. Isn't that weird?**_

_You **are** weird._

_**Well I'm you. So we're both weird.**_

Sasuke and I nodded with Naruto's statement. I ignored my Inner.

"Zabuza makes those guys look like academy students, guys. What if I'm not there? You guys can't handle hi-"

"Yeah we can! I'm not about to give up before we even start!" Naruto now looked angry.

"This is his village's business and out of our league – we should go back to Konoha and send a higher ranking team to do this."

Before I, Sai, or Sasuke could say anything, Naruto took out a kunai and stabbed his hand.

Sai tilted his head, confused. "I didn't know you had masochistic tendencies, Dickless. But is now really the time-"

"If I'm going to be the Hokage one day, I can't give up my first mission now and leave this guy who – whether any of us likes it or not– needs us abandoned. This is our chance to prove and test ourselves, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi was about to speak, but was interrupted. "I'm not saying I want us to just throw our lives away, but I feel we should do this. We need something to challenge us, and I'm willing to prepare for anything - be alright with what they'll throw at us." He said, raising his hand, as if showing he doesn't care about the pain he'll go through and representing it through his self-inflicted wound. "I'll do this whether you like it or not, Sensei. I don't know about Sakura-chan, Sasuke, and Sai, but I'm going to stay."

His expression of determination was one I missed – I hadn't seen it for a long time, and I almost missed it.

It made me smile.

I turned to Kakashi. "I want to do this, too, Sensei."

Kakashi sighed. "You too, Sasuke, Sai?"

They both nodded.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "I guess I can't say no to that."

I broke into a wide grin, and Naruto cheered. "Woo-hoo!"

Sai's expression remained with a fake smile, but Sasuke smirked in satisfaction.

_***Drool* Man, I love it when he does that!**_

_Shut up, you._

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." I said, giving him a quick hug.

Then, I turned to Naruto with a scowl on my face. "What is it, Sakura-chan?"

I grabbed his still-bleeding hand. "If nothing is done, you're going to bleed out, idiot!"

He freaked, flailing wildly. "Wha-what?! AHH! Help, help! Someone! I'm gonna die, I'm gonna _DIE-"_

I squeezed his injured hand and he froze and winced harshly. Low blow, I know, but I needed him to shut up and stay still.

So what, I'm still irritable? Get over it.

"_I'm_ going to help you, idiot. And you're not going to die, even if I didn't do anything. Pass out from blood loss, for sure, but die, no. That'd be a pretty lame way to go. No sit down and stay still – I need to heal and wrap the wound."

Naruto obediently plopped down, and I followed, taking out my antiseptic wipes –which are sometimes more convenient than the spray– and bandages.

I quickly wiped the wound with the bandages as well as the blood on his hand and kunai. If I hadn't, bacteria would have built up, which isn't what we want.

Naruto winced and flinched the whole time. "Ouch! That hurts, Sakura-chan!"

"It'll be over soon, 'kay?" He pouted, but nodded.

Then, I held his hand in one of my own, and used my other to heal it using medical ninjutsu.

Naruto awed. "Whoa! That's so cool! What is that? It's healing my wound!"

I didn't answer, concentrating. _**We need to practice a lot later. This is much more difficult than it should be.**_

My chakra flow, for the most part, was constant, but was also weak and occasionally flickered. I hadn't been that bad since I started my training for the first time in the other timeline, and it annoyed me. _If Tsunade was here, she's force me to train for hours on end to make it better._

"Shut up, Dobe/Dickless. She's concentrating." Sasuke and Sai responded to Naruto at the same time, resulting in a one-sided glare. I don't need to tell you whom from. If I do, you don't know them very well.

Finally, I finished – mostly. I didn't heal him completely because I wanted his body do the rest of the work. However, now it was just a thin and shallow mark. I wrapped the bandages around his hand.

"You know medical ninjutsu, Sakura?"

I turned to my sensei, standing and helping Naruto do the same. "Sorta. I've been reading up on it a lot and practicing a bit, but as you can see, I need serious work. A LOT of work."

"What's medical ninjutsu exactly?" Sasuke asked me.

I smiled in delight of teaching him something –_sue me, I felt pride in knowing something Sasuke didn't_– and answered him. "Medical ninjutsu is a method of healing cells in a damaged organism to, well, heal it. Chakra while using medical ninjutsu is always green."**(3)**

Sasuke, unlike his best friend –sorry Naruto– actually paid attention when being taught something in the Academy so I knew what I said about organisms and cells didn't go over his head.

_Naruto, I'm not too sure about._ "Basically healing with chakra." I said again, in case Naruto didn't understand.

Sai nodded. "It requires a lot of concentration and control to do something like that. Specifically because it's mostly done on a cellular level."

"Why didn't you heal me completely, then Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. I turned to him. "Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, just curious."

"Because I wanted your body to do the rest of the work. If it becomes too dependent on being healed with an outside force, you won't be able to recover or heal on your own and your immune system will weaken, since it couldn't fight anything on its own. Your body needs to do the work sometimes." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"I've seen a lot of medical ninjutsu in my career, and I must say that's pretty good for your age, Sakura. Do you plan to use medical ninjutsu in the future?" Kakashi asked. I couldn't help but glow in the praise.

Kakashi rarely praised me individually, and when both Sasuke and Naruto were gone, we didn't see each other much. As much as I hate to say it, his attention was mostly on Naruto and Sasuke when we were a team, and Naruto after he came back.

Kakashi's not perfect, but I love him anyway.

"Yeah," I said. "Having a medic on the team could be really handy, and I always liked medicine."

"That's good then." Kakashi replied. He ruffled my hair. "I wish you luck, Sakura."

I blushed, happy.

"Now." He turned to Tazuna. "Lead the way."

We headed to the village.

* * *

We had just crossed the small body of water that came between us and the village.

As we neared it, I started getting almost nervous. _Soon, Zabuza will show up._

But I was shaken out of those thoughts when I saw a small, white rabbit that came out of the bushes.

Keeping up appearance, but having an odd feeling anyway, I stopped and picked the bunny up, causing the team to stop with me.

I saw Sasuke, Sai, and Kakashi narrow their eyes at it. _They know that something's up – rabbits shouldn't be this color this time of year._

"Aren't you a cute little thing?" I said, cuddling with the small animal. Then, I saw that it had something hidden in its fur.

Pretending I was petting the –very adorable– warm ball of fluff, I pulled the "thing" in its fur out a bit. _It's a slip of paper!_

I discreetly snuck the paper into my kunai pouch, pretending I was closing the latch. It really was open, though, so I was safe for the most part. _I better read it later in private._

"Aww! Let me hold it, Sakura-chan. It's so cute!" Naruto said.

When I turned to Naruto, the rabbit squirmed in my arms, snuggling closer to me. "Sorry, Naruto. I guess he doesn't like you." _**We're just more loveable.**_

He pouted cutely. "Well damn it."

Soon, I set the bunny down and shooed it gently back into the woods.

I turned to my team. "I'm satisfied now, let's go. Sorry for the hold up."

I was walking toward them when another rustle was heard. Too loud to be an animal. "DUCK!" Kakashi yelled.

A long sword swiped over our heads and into a tree across, lodging itself there.

On top of the now-stuck-in-a-tree-on-purpose sword, stood a man I have been anticipating.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The legendary Hatake Kakashi, the bridge builder, a bunch of kids. What a day."

"'Demon of the Mist', Momochi Zabuza. You've heard of me? I'm flattered." Kakashi replied, one hand on his back ninja pouch.

"Likewise, Hatake. Your bounty's pretty high in the bingo book. I'm delighted. I get to kill the bridge builder, you, and those kids. Lucky me." He grinned sadistically under his bandages.

"Get ready!" He yelled, jumping off his sword, somehow pulling it out of the tree in the process and charging us once he touched the ground again.

Kakashi intercepted him before he could get to the rest of us.

While the two of them engaged a mini-battle, the rest of us surrounded Tazuna, prepared for an attack.

Soon, however, the mist had settled around us and Kakashi was forced to turn on his Sharingan.

Of course, Naruto asked what it was, Zabuza explained, and Sasuke gazed thoughtfully at Kakashi, wondering how he had gotten it.

I, of course, pretended to be mostly oblivious to the Sharingan, saying I had heard a bit about it around the village.

However, Zabuza soon got bored with his fight with Kakashi and decided to involve all of us. "I'm supposed to kill all of you so I might as well, right? One-on-one can be _so_ **boring**!"

As he said this, he created clones and soon, all of us were concentrating on staying alive. _Damn it!_

Sai promised to guard Tazuna, so Naruto, Sasuke, and I could help Kakashi with the clones and the real Zabuza.

We were kicked around, beaten up some, slashed, but we kept coming back up.

However, one well-placed kick to the head Sasuke lingering on the ground, coughing up a bit of blood. His earlier injuries added to his pain, and due to them, he couldn't move.

The real Zabuza walked over to him, raising his sword.

Sai was busy defending Tazuna from a clone, Naruto was busy with another, and Kakashi was trapped in a water sphere.

I quickly got rid of my own clone and ran to Sasuke. _I must reach him before Zabuza does!_

Before I knew it, I was in front of Sasuke, between him and Zabuza. Zabuza had his sword raised above his head and was bringing it down.

I heard shouts, "Sakura!" "No! SAKURA!"

Even a plea from the currently-immobile Sasuke. "S-Sakura...d-don't!"

The Kubikiribocho**(4)** was nearing me and I did the first thing that came to my mind.

I caught it. The flat sides of the blade trapped between my hands. Oh my God_**, it worked! Thank you Zoro! Thank you One Piece! THANK YOU ODA!**_(5) _**I'll never look at watching anime the same way ever again! I'm** _so _**paying more attention the next time I watch or read shounen!**_(6) **_Thank you God!_**

"What?!" Zabuza exclaimed, shocked at my strength.

However, I hadn't stopped him completely. I stopped him for a moment, but he was still slowly pushing the blade down on me. _I'm so much weaker than before…at least I'm still holding the blade away._

I stepped back, keeping my palmed grip on the sword, not letting go as the blade was pushed down. My muscles burned painfully, but I did not let up on my grip in the tiniest bit.

In my peripheral vision, I saw that someone had moved Sasuke against a tree, and he was slowly standing up.

In a split-second decision, I slipped my hands into the round hole near the tip of the sword, and used it to completely take hold the sword and begin to pull it from the older shinobi. **(7)**

"H-how are you…" he said, holding the grip of the sword tightly. In response to my actions, he tried to pull the blade away from me.

"Aaaagh!" I grunted, using all of my current strength to rip the sword out of Zabuza's hands and away somewhere, in some direction. I couldn't see which. _**Hopefully, we didn't accidentally incapacitate someone.**_

Before either of us could decide what to do next, Kakashi appeared thrust his Raikiri into Zabuza, surprising him. However, in his surprised, Zabuza jumped back, so the Raikiri did not go through him, but had gone quite deep into him, and he collapsed.

When that happened, I fell to my knees in exhaustion.

I checked Zabuza's pulse, though.

"I can't…feel anything." I told Kakashi, panting from the earlier endeavor. It caused a lot of strain on my smaller, weaker, more delicate body. _I do believe some serious training is in order._

Just to be sure, Kakashi checked as well. "Nothing."

As the mist that Zabuza created dissipated, Haku showed up, pretending to be a Hunter-Nin.

He checked his pulse as well, and Kakashi explained to us who he was –when Naruto asked– and Haku disappeared with Zabuza's body.

I was about to collapse completley unto the ground, losing consciousness when I felt a warm body support me and take me into its arms, bridal style.

"Thank you, Sakura." _I really don't like hearing that...especially from _that_ voice._

I'd know _that_ voice anywhere. _I guess he has mostly recovered from his injuries…_

"Your welcome…Sasuke…-kun…" I muttered, falling asleep.

The last thing I remember was snuggling myself closer to his body, content in the warm arms of my beloved.

* * *

**(1): **"Momo" in Japanese means peaches. "Momochi" means peach soil. Naruto translated Zabuza's name. However, Zabuza's last name may be a reference to the famous ninja "Momochi Sandayuu", though that's unclear and it's written in a different kanji than Zabuza's name.**  
(2): **The two people he's talking about are Zori and Waraji, Gato's body guards.**  
(3): **That's my understanding of medical ninjutsu at least.  
**(4): **The Japanese name for Zabuza's sword if you didn't already know.  
**(5): **Eiichiro Oda is the creator of the anime One Piece. Now why is Sakura thanking a particular character, Zoro, and Oda for making One Piece? When I thought of writing that scene, I thought of a scene in one piece where Zoro is using a technique to catch a sword to with his hands (often seen in many anime) but was interrupted every time by Sanji. (Those two will never get along...) Here's a link if you want to see it: /watch?v=H4p_Xn7mGHY  
**(6):** Shounen is anime and manga geared towards boys, while shoujo are anime and manga geared towards boys. There ARE anime and manga that are both, however. I have a favorite that is one. Anyway, shounen tend to center around adventuer and action, and what better place to observe fantasy fighting than shounen anime? That's what she's saying - she'll pay more attention while watching shounen as to pick up ideas. Just like the sowrd-catching thing with Zoro from One Piece.**  
****(7): **If you look at the sword, there is a whole near the tip of the sword, and since that was close to Sakura, she grabbed it to get a better grip and rip it away from Zabuza.**  
**

**Now I'm sure you're wondering - does Zabuza remember? Is he secretly planning to help Sakura? What about Haku? **

**I'm not going to tell you guys - you'll just have to wait for it.**

**Question of the Week: **_"Who is/are your favorite character(s) and why?"_

**Remember to review! That inspires me to write and update! **I don't update without reviews!** They tell me this is worth continuing!**

**Love,**

**Epic Otaku Cherry.**


	8. Chapter 8: Waking Up Bonding

**Sunday, April 14th, 2013.**

**I was going to update last night, since I was finished with the chapter, but my chores took longer than I thought, so Sunday it was.**

**This chapter's kinda long, I'm warning you. (4.5k) To think I couldn't think of anything for this chapter at first...and it turned out really long.**

I **MAY** UPDATE NEXT WEEK!

**That depends on the **reviews** I get. If there's enough **(5 minimum)** then I'll update. Otherwise, two week's wait as usual. **

**Now why would I be updating next week? I have my state exams next week (AIMS: Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards) and the whole week is half days w/o homework. So I'll have plenty of free time.**

**To my reviewers: Love you all. I don't say that enough. I love all my readers, but reviewers just get extra acknowledgement because I have a way to acknowledge them. **

And for _TheAnimeMiner_:** Are those your grades? Awesome! I feel bubbly that I improved your grade one way or another. Oh, and watch the anime/read the manga, **Hetalia** if you want to improve your history grade. **Hetalia** is history (mostly around WW2) on crack, but it still has historical truth in it, somewhat. And it's funny as hell.**

Maybe Itachi's my favorite...yeah, maybe...I'm so indecisive.

_**Disclaimer:**_ Karin wouldn't be a fangirl again if I owned Naruto (Chapter 627). I would've given the girl a break, and relief to have her move on. Sheesh. 627 was the greatest chapter in a long while, but the fangirl thing pissed me off. That was essentially the only thing though.

**Now read on, loves!**

**OH! **When I wrote this chapter, I forgot Sakura was closer to Sasuke than she seems to be here, like I mentioned in the episode where they were given the Land of Waves mission. So they're kind of friends, but not really. Just clearing that up.

* * *

Chapter 8: Waking Up | Bonding

* * *

**Sasuke POV**

_Why'd she do it?_

It's been two days since Sakura had thrown herself in front of Zabuza to protect me, somehow stopping his sword with strength I don't think even _she_ knew about.

It was the afternoon, and I was taking a break from training. I decided to go back to Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami-san's home to relax.

Kakashi and Sai are training together, while Naruto's helping Tazuna around the village. Not of his own volition, of course.

I went to our guest room to check on Sakura. Our team shared one room because of the size of the house, using futons for beds.

Sakura's been asleep this whole time. All two days.

**_I hope she's alright…_**

_Kakashi said it was just over-exertion and stress on the body. She's fine._

**_But she's sleeping too long time to be_** just**_ sleeping, Outer._**

_I'm sure she's going to wake up soon._

**_That's what you said yesterday! What if she never wakes up, Outer? What if Zabuza put her under a genjutsu that we don't know about and she'll be trapped in it unless we get her out of it, somehow?! What if-_**

_She's fine, dude, sheesh. What are you getting so riled up for?_

I'll admit I'm worried about her – honest. She's my teammate, and though I may not have liked her all that much in the past, I was scared for her when she jumped in front of me that time.

But really; I think my Inner's overreacting.

**_She jumped in front of a deadly ninja to save us, idiot! I care! I'm sure we can become good friends, but it'll never happen is she's _**dead**_!_**

_I'm going to ignore you until you're done with your hysterics._

My Inner _did_ bring up a good point, though: she basically sacrificed herself for me and I can't understand why…

_Yeah, she likes me, but it's just a crush! And she was-…is-…_was_ a fangirl just days ago! But whether or not she had gotten over that doesn't explain why she did what she did... I'll need to ask her._

"Nng…" My head snapped towards the direction of the groan.

Sakura was turning slightly, towards me. _She may be asleep…she's tossed, turned, and groaned multiple times just like the average sleeper would. She's probably just sleeping._

But she wasn't.

She slowly opened her eyes, yawning and stretching a bit in the futon.

"Mmm...what time is it?" She mumbled.

I looked at the clock on the wall and then back at her. "2:49 in the afternoon." I said.

She blinked at me a few times, waking a bit with each movement. "Sasuke-kun?"

I nodded. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Two days."

"_Two days_?!" She almost shrieked.

I nodded again. "Exhaustion, apparently. A bit too much stress on the body so suddenly, according to Kakashi."

She calmed slightly. "I remember now…the last thing I remember was that Hunter-Nin showing up, and fainting. You caught me, right?"

"Aa."

I stood up and got something from one of the small drawers in the room. I walked back to Sakura's futon, sat down beside her like before, and passed the item to her. "Here. Tsunami-san –Tazuna's daughter– had to undress you to treat your wounds, bathe you, and allow you to sleep. It's too warm for that at night."

It was her dress. Naruto almost had a nosebleed from the idea of it being off, but as we found out, Sakura wore a mesh shirt with some band-...thing around her chest with a strap to act like a bra. **(1) **Or so we assume...

Anyway. Less skin than Naruto expected had been seen, so he was disappointed, and I gradually grew used to seeing her in it during the times she kicked off the blankets in her sleep.

**_But you still blushed the first few times you saw her like that!_**

_I did not! I just wasn't used to seeing women like that! Hana and Mura are much older than I am so they're out of the picture and mother was the only other woman I knew growing up. I'm not used to seeing girls in so little. I grew up with a brother and a male cousin without shame, not a sister._**(2)**

"Oh!" Sakura squeaked, embarrassed. "Thanks...could you turn around, please?"

I turned and waited for Sakura to put the red outfit back on.

I turned back when she told me she was done.

We settled into a relatively uncomfortable silence.

"Why'd you do it?" I blurted. _I have to know._

"Do what?" She was confused.

"Save me. Jump in front of Zabuza. Stop him. Why?"

"Oh…that. Um, because-…because…I-…um…"

I cocked an eyebrow. "_Well?"_, the message conveyed.

She took a deep breath, calming her nerves.

"We may not be very close friends, Sasuke-kun, but I hope to be. With you and Naruto…but you're also my teammate, and teammates look out for each other right? Isn't that what Kakashi-sensei first told us?" I knew what he said. _"Yes, those who abandon the rules are scum. But those who abandon their friends are_ **worse**_ than scum."_

"I couldn't stand by and let him kill you," she concluded.

"So you jumped in front to get killed yourself?" _I'm not convinced._

"No!" She exclaimed. "No. I don't plan to get myself _killed_ anytime soon, you know. I have stuff I want to do. But I didn't really think when I got there though…I just saw you about to get sliced in half by him, and the next thing I knew, _boom_! I was in front of Zabuza. So I did the only thing I could do in that situation to stay alive – stop the sword."

"Where'd you get that idea anyway?" _I'm starting to believe her, but that move was pretty spontaneous…I don't think I would've thought of that._

"Oh. That…" She scratched the back of her neck, laughing embarrassed manner. I raised a brow. **_What a Naruto-like move…_**

"Um…I got it from seeing Zoro doing that while watching _One Piece_ one day. That scene popped into my head, and voila! It somehow worked."

"You're _kidding_," I said, stunned. Not that One Piece or anime is bad or anything, but _seriously_?! **_Well, Zoro _**_is__** a swordsman. He had to have done that one point in the series…but to think that moment is what Sakura remembered and saved her. Who says anime is useless? Anime for the win!**_

"No." She said, still embarrassed. "It's true. I swear that's what popped into my mind that moment!"

"To think…" I muttered.

But an important question was still unanswered. "But how'd you have the strength to do that, anyway? Stop the sword, slow Zabuza from pushing it down, _and_ throw it in another direction? No offense, but I'm pretty sure you're not that strong."

"None taken," she said, while thinking. "Over the years, though, I've been told that I'm really strong sometimes. Not all the time, but when I'm angry or something. Ino told me that when we were little, and Naruto said the same a couple times. He says I must have super strength or something, judging by the power I hit him with. He was half-serious.

"So, maybe I do have some abnormal strength. They must've come out while battling Zabuza. I should try to tap into it…and strengthen myself as well…Unless I have brains like Shikamaru, I'm not going to get anywhere."

"That makes enough sense," I said. _So she discovered a strength she didn't believe she had…a little odd, but I'll believe it. It's not unheard of._

**_She's right, too. Sakura may be smart –though she didn't show it in the academy– but she's weak, too. Her brains can't make up for her lack of brawn, like Shikamaru's does. She knows it, and Kakashi gave it to her straight during the bell test. She needs to get stronger. _**

"Sakura-chan!" A voice yelled, before nearly ripping the bedroom door off the wall. "You're awake!"

I turned to the voice that interrupted Sakura and I.

It was Naruto, and behind him were Sai, Kakashi, Tazuna, Tsunami-san, and Inari.

"Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. Did her prince kiss her awake?" Kakashi said.

I scowled. Sakura blushed and threw a nearby shoe at him.

"Oh, good. Violence means you're just fine, Ugly. It's about time you woke up." She scowled slightly.

**_I think she looks better without the scowl. Maybe even better smiling._**

_What. The. _Freak_, dude._

**_Simply making an observation. We don't like her, and we both know that. Sheesh…so touchy._**

"Why didn't you tell us she was awake, Teme?" Naruto asked.

"Because you were all God-knows-where and I was going to tell Tsunami-san soon."

"Hey, why do you only use honorifics only with my daughter, brat? Why not me?" Tazuna asked me.

I gave him the truth. "Because I don't have to. Tsunami-san is also a very respectable woman, as opposed to you."

**_Not to mention, you're (we're) a Momma's boy. Tsunami remind us of Mom. We have a soft spot for her._**

Pissed, Tazuna was almost going to yell at me when Tsunami told him lunch was ready, and that he can wait at the table for the rest of us. The thought of food had him rushing to the dining area.

Sai, Naruto, and Kakashi all followed.

"Hello, sweetie," Tsunami-san said. "I'm Tsunami, Tazuna-tou's daughter. This is my son, Inari."

Inari peaked from behind his mother's skirt. Instead of the usual scowl or depressed look on his face, a blush was present.

"I-I'm glad to see you awake, Kanari-nee-chan." **(3)** He said quietly. _No. Effing. Way. _

**_What the hell?! That little brat is all "woe-is-me", "everything's hopeless", "you can't beat Gato" all the time, but the moment Sakura's awake, he acts like a little kid with a crush?!_**

_Isn't that what he is right now?_

I _was_ pretty ticked, though. _Of course he acts sweet around the girl. And around us, he's a little brat. Naruto seems to get along with him, somehow, though. But he also seems to hate him…I don't know._

"Why thank you, Inari-kun." She said, smiling. Inari blushed harder, muttered something about lunch, and rushed out of the room.

Sakura turned to Tsunami.

"I bathed you and washed your clothes this morning, so don't worry about that. How about some lunch?" Tsunami said.

Sakura stood from her futon, and I stood as well. I steadied her when she wobbled a bit. _She __**was**__ asleep for two days. Her limbs must be waking up, too._

"I'd love that, Tsunami-san. Thank you very much for everything."

"Your welcome dear," she said. "Come on, you two. Let's eat lunch."

* * *

**A little later, still Sasuke's POV**

I'll have you know that it was a good lunch. Just saying. **_When did you notice? Before or after Sakura broke up your and Naruto's eating contest?_**

_Shut up._

* * *

**Sakura POV**

After lunch with the family, I went out with Tazuna, to go shopping for more groceries, and ingredients for tomorrow's meals.

Remember that little child that I bumped into in the other past that I gave candy to? And the thief that I thought was a pervert?

This time around, I gave the little child a little bit of money and a bread loaf. I gave the thief a little less money (he smelled of weed, and believe me, I know what it smells like – I didn't want to feed his habit; and the money wasn't enough for weed anywhere unless the dealer's **_really_** desperate) and a bit of food.

Tazuna scolded me, saying there isn't enough money to spare to strangers. There a plenty of homeless and poverty-stricken people here and there's no point in giving all my money and the limited food to other people. "You can't save everyone, kid. No matter how much you want to," he said solemnly.

I was shocked at the statement – was he saying that just because he or others feel the same, or could he just tell that I had a help-everyone complex? _You would too, if you were trained as a medical ninja; by Tsunade no less. And if you were unable to do anything for the people you loved before…_

I replied saying that it was my own money, not any anyone had given me, and that I could do what I wish with it. "I know I can't save everyone, but anyone I do help counts for something right? If I can help someone, chances are, I'll try to. I just can't leave someone suffering if I can do something about it…"

It's almost as if that instinct fully awoke after Sasuke and Naruto left to compensate for what I couldn't do for them. Maybe it's true. Maybe I'm just trying to help people because I'm guilt-ridden.

But I **_do_** know that it makes me happy to help someone else, to see happiness in their eyes because of it. That's why I was so adamant on my medical ninjutsu in the other timeline – helping others makes me happy. _They're all that matters._

After my response, Tazuna stared at me for a moment. Then, he rustled my hair, a faint smile on his face. I stopped protesting at his actions when I saw it.

"You're a good kid…" he muttered. I smiled warmly. _He's not so bad after all._

* * *

After dropping off the groceries at the house, I went to find Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke in the forest doing the tree exercise. I pretended not to know what it was.

"What're you guys doing?" I asked.

"Tree-climbing while only using chakra from the bottom of your feet. If you reach the highest branch, you complete the exercise." Kakashi explained giving me a glance from the top of his book. "The boys have been at it since last night. I made them stop and sleep, then they came back here in the morning. They were taking a break when you woke up. Now, they're back at it again."

"May I try?" I asked.

Kakashi looked away from his book for a moment. "You sure you're up to it? Do you think your chakra may be affected from sleeping so long?"

"I think I'm fine." I replied. "So basically I concentrate my chakra to the bottom of my feet and walk up the tree while doing it?"

Kakashi smiled proudly at me, putting the book away. I suppressed the urge to beam at the knowledge that he was proud of me. "You got it. You'd probably get it much faster than these idiots – it's a lot like how you concentrated your chakra to your hands when you healed Naruto before."

Naruto gave a shout of protest of being called an idiot while Sasuke simply grunted indignantly, too busy with the task at hand to do much more. Not that he would if he wasn't busy.

I nodded, and was about to start the exercise when I asked, "Where's Sai-kun, anyway?"

"He said that….he wanted…he wanted to p-paint…part of the…f-forest…" Naruto panted between his words, and took his jacket off. "I'm getting too hot!"

I could tell he was concentrated on this task by his lack of making a joke out of the last statement. **_I was half-expected to say something about how hot he thinks he is…_**

"Oh." I said simply. "Well here I go!"

With chakra concentrated at my feet, and a kunai in my hand, I slowly and moderately walked up the trunk of the tree in front of me.

The sad part was, I was only faking about 85% of this. The other 15% of me was legitimately having trouble with the exercise. That's sad. _Yup. Total Tsunade-style-Spartan-training when I get the chance._

But I was getting better; the higher up the tree I got, the faster I walked.

By the time I got to the top branch, I was almost running, almost slipping once or twice.

I waved down at my wide-eyed teammates. Then, I jumped down.

Naruto ran to me. "SakuraSakuraSakuraSakura-chan!" He said quickly. "Yougottateachmehowtodothat!"

I waved my hands. "Whoa, calm down!"

I saw Sasuke stare at us, then walk away back to his tree. I sensed some anger in his steps. _Is he jealous that I got it on the first try? Probably…_

I turned back to Naruto, who was standing attentively.

"Okay, Naruto." I said. "Think of your chakra this way – let's say you're cooking ramen, 'kay?"

Naruto nodded vigorously, totally enraptured by every word I was speaking like it was solid gold. I resisted the urge to laugh.

It was hard.

"You don't want to put too much broth into the bowl with your noodles, right?" He shook his head.

"No. That'll make it an overly-salty-soupy-mess. But you also don't want to put too little – your noodles and extras will be all dry and stuff, and that's not good." Naruto shook his head again, saying, "No, it's not."

I continued. "You need the right amount of broth into the bowl to make it delicious right?" He nodded.

"So your chakra's like to amount of broth you put in your ramen bowl, but with different consequences: if you add too much chakra to your feet, you'll be stuck to the tree and have a hard time going anywhere. But if you put too little you won't be able to stay on the tree long enough to take another step. Put _just_ the right amount into your feet, Naruto. With the right amount, you'll be able to walk on a cliff, forget trees!"

Naruto looked encouraged by my words and hugged me fiercely. "God, I love you! Thanks **_so_** much, Sakura-chan! It makes so much more sense now!"

Then, he kissed me quickly on the cheek. "I owe 'ya one, 'kay Sakura-chan?"

With that, he ran off to the tree, pausing to concentrate on his chakra. Then, he proceeded to run up it again. And fall. "Yes! New record!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke look at me for a moment, slightly wide-eyed with shock, and something else I'm not sure of. _Anger? Jealousy? Betrayal? Am I reading wrong? Probably…this _is_ Sasuke after all._

Then, he looked away and at Naruto, with very obvious rage in his eyes, and more jealousy. Then, he took a breath and calmed down.

I took a moment to sit against a nearby tree, watching the boys and Kakashi.

_Naruto doesn't still like me, right? I made that clear to him, didn't I? _

**_Yeah, you did. Don't worry – he just kissed you out of elation. That's all. And he's also a very affectionate person and he cares about you one way or another._**

I relaxed.

_Phew! I don't think I can bare having him love me like that again…breaking his heart like I did for years still eats me up with guilt…I can't deal with that. But I wonder why Sasuke was looking and Naruto and I like that._

**_Well, obviously he saw Naruto's fuss about thanking you. Maybe he felt jealous that he hugged and kissed you and all that, and that you told_ **him_** how to climb the tree and not Sasuke. **_

_But why would Sasuke feel jealous about that? He doesn't like me. We're not even friends – yet. I'm working on that. And it's not like Sasuke asked for help._

**_This is Sasuke – he's stubborn and proud. And maybe he felt upset that "the girl who liked him so much before" was all hugs-and-kisses with his rival and best friend. It's possible he subconsciously grew to accept/appreciate/like/grow accustom your constant affection for him and _**only _**him, and felt annoyed and almost betrayed seeing you like that with Naruto. You know Sasuke – he's complicated and pushes his feelings away. And I think he may be the possessive type.**_

_…How psychoanalytical. _

**_You do it, too!_**

_I know but-…nevermind. Thanks, though, Inner._

**_You're welcome. We're here to help each other, Outer._**

That made me smile. _I've been doing a lot of that today, haven't I?_

* * *

About an hour later, it was nearing sunset, and Naruto and Sasuke were slowly reaching their goal to the highest branch of their trees.

When Naruto left to take a leak –Sai came back eventually then Kakashi accompanied him back to the house; they said they'll be waiting for us at dinner– Sasuke approached me.

He was scratching his neck similar like Naruto does, not looking at me, with a blush on his face. It was pretty adorable.

When Sasuke realized he was copying Naruto's habit, he stuck his hands in pants, the blush more apparent. _He's so cute sometimes._

**_I have to say though – that naked chest of his is pretty nice for his age. I could get used to_** that.

Sasuke had taken off his shirt about 50 minutes ago, and Inner hasn't shut up since. Naruto took his off around the same time as well, but that's not important.

"Uh, Sakura…" Sasuke started.

I looked up from the book I've been pretending to read for the past minute and looked up at Sasuke with a kind smile on my face. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"What did you…um, tell Naruto b-before? When you were helping him control his chakra?" He asked. "He told me some shit about ramen broth but I refuse to believe that actually helped him."

I resisted the urge to both laugh at the last sentence and squeal -blame Inner- at his cute shyness. I knew this alone was a blow to his ego, so I decided to stay "professional".

"That's because I _did_ use ramen broth in my advice, Sasuke-kun."

His look screamed, "tell me you're not serious." Well, it didn't _scream_ it. This is Sasuke.

His expression was flat and deadpan. And hilarious at the same time.

I laughed in my head.

"Honest! I had to explain it in a way he'd understand, and as you saw when he hugged me, he did. I spoke his language, if you know what I mean."

After staring at me for a moment –I almost squirmed under that penetrating gaze of his – he _actually_ facepalmed himself, and groaned. "Ugh…"

"But if you want advice, I can still give advice to you Sasuke." I said. "But if you want it in tomato and rice ball analogies, tell me now so I can think of them."

He smirked, and I knew my statement amused him.

_Curse my thundering heart. I'm such a shoujo-manga-girl…acting like this at his smirk…_

"No thanks. I'd like the academic version, Sensei."

I smiled, and laughed lightly. "Alright, then, student:" I began.

"Chakra control is the key here," my serious-teacher-mode slipped in automatically. "Too much and you'll have difficulty moving up the tree. Too little and you'll never get anywhere at all. Everyone's chakra levels vary a bit; for example, you and Naruto have much more chakra and higher levels than I do.

"So, because of that, the amount of chakra they will use to do what you and Naruto are doing right now varies too. Experiment a bit – test how much chakra is enough to get you all the way up the tree. That way, you'll learn from your previous mistakes, and can use chakra control to your advantage in the future."

He nodded comprehending everything I was saying. "Does chakra control come easy to you? Is that why you were able to do the exercise so quickly?"

I nodded. "Chakra control is one of the few things I'm good at physically, so this wasn't very hard for me. I almost slipped off a few times though."

"Is good chakra control beneficial in medical ninjutsu?"

It felt good talking so intelligently with Sasuke like this – he was attentive and interested in what I said, and likewise. It made me feel more confident in the possibility of growing closer to him.

"Definitely! It's ideal. When someone wishes to try medical ninjutsu, they have to take a test to gouge their chakra control. If it's bad, they're rejected. If it's good, they go on for more training. From then on, the training's really difficult and particular, and you get better and more precise with chakra. Healing is a delicate process – if you don't do it right, it could wind up hurting somebody more, or in some cases, causing them to die. That's why the exam is kind of harsh – you either have it [good chakra control] or you don't. Period."**(4)**

"And you had good control."

"Yeah."

"Do you think Naruto or I do, too?"

I tilted my head to the sky in thought. "As far as Naruto goes, I think he may actually have below average chakra control, but that's understandable with the excess of chakra and stamina he has. But I don't think, even with a lot of training, he could pull of enough control for something like medical ninjutsu if he wanted to do it for whatever reason."

I looked at Sasuke again, still thinking. "And as for you…I think if you have average, if not a bit above if you worked harder on it. You may _possibly_ be precise enough for something as delicate as medical ninjutsu, but that'd require a lot of training and I'm sure you'd rather spend that time training for something else."

He nodded. He understood that I wasn't insulting him, or being conceited, and was just using medical ninjutsu as a comparison for chakra control.

The fact that there was a silent understanding of any kind between us, made me want to woot for joy – I'm bonding with him! _Wait a minute...I sound like such a perky little girl! Ugh._

Anyway.

I could almost see the gears turning in his head, taking everything in.

We heard a yell, disturbing our comfortable silence. "Hey! Ready for me to kick your ass, Teme?"

**_He took an awfully long time to just take a piss. I wonder what he was doing…_**

_I don't think I'd like to know._

Naruto hadn't reached our area yet, so Sasuke said something to me before he went back to his tree to beat Naruto in tree-climbing. _Competitive as ever, I see._

"Your medical ninjutsu was pretty cool back there," he whispered to me. "And…thank you, Sakura."

I froze.

He walked away, back to his tree.

His "thank you" reminded me too much of that night. Way too much, and it hurt. _I haven't even told anybody about that night...not Naruto of the future, not Ino, not Tsunade, nobody. Everyone guessed what happened, I never told them..._

But when I realized he was talking about when I saved him, I calmed. Even more so, when I recalled his compliment. That made me cheer up quite a bit, I'll admit.

I blushed. _He complimented me! _

See? My mind was off in La La Land.

And I was too happy to berate myself for thinking like a lovesick shoujo girl.

Inner was on Cloud 9, so I decided not to interrupt.

Then, I felt something furry near my hand. It snapped me out of my trance, thankfully.

I looked. It was Sai's mouse. It had a note in his mouth. _That's right! That note in the rabbit's fur from before! I never found it in my clothes..._

It occurred to me that Sai must have taken it out of my pouch before any of the others could see it, in case it was from Haku, like I suspect it was.

I took the letter, opened it, and the mouse disappeared.

_Sakura,_

_Meet me at a clearing near the edge of the woods, the one with many flowers. I will wait for you there May 7__th__, at sunset. Please be there._

It was in elegant handwriting, so I assumed it to be Haku's. Do you see Zabuza writing in almost perfect calligraphy? No? I didn't think so.

I looked into the horizon.

_It's going to be sunset soon. I better hurry over to Haku and then finish up with him quickly or I'll be late to dinner._

I stood, dusting myself off. Book in hand, I prepared to leave the clearing, until a voice stopped me.

"Where 'ya goin', Sakura?"

I offered him and Sasuke a smile, who had also stopped climbing to see where I was off to.

"Oh, just off to explore the wood a bit more. Don't worry – I'll be back for dinner."

"Do you want one of us to go with you? It's dangerous – it'll be dark soon." Naruto said, concerned. Sasuke's expression told me he had the same sentiment.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, boys. I'll just be a few minutes, and then off to the house for dinner." I gave them a playful glare. "If you two aren't there five minutes at _**most**_ after me, I'll come here and drag you back with my apparent super strength." I flexed my (currently) non-existent biceps, causing Naruto to laugh.

"Later!" I said.

"Later, Sakura-chan!/Sakura," was their reply.

Earlier, at lunch, I had told everyone the general idea of what I told Sasuke when they asked how and why I stopped Zabuza.

My until-now-undiscovered-super-strength, teammate obligation, and the like were what I told them.

The details I told Sasuke are to stay with us. Just us.

_I want to keep it that way. Just like that night..._

I trudged deeper into the woods, anticipating my visit with a certain young rouge ninja.

* * *

**(1): It's what Sakura where under her dress, by the way. And obviously, Sasuke wasn't sure what to call it - he's a dude. Even _I'm_ not sure what to call it, to be honest.  
(2): He's talking about Itachi and Shisui. They're going to be in this story, and there are some details about their roles in this story, that I'll explain when I get to them. If you've read **DoOver**, then you know what the deal is with the two of them.**  
**(3): "Kanari"=pretty. Inari knows Sakura's name, but he called her "Kanari-nee-chan" to call her pretty. He basically said, "pretty older sister". He has a crush on her.**  
**(4): I figured that was the deal, sorta. I mean, if you're going to be healing people and saving lives, the entrance test has got to be harsh right? The explanation is just what I made up. So...it's not cannon.**

**So how was it? Long chapter, huh? I didn't mean to make it that long...to be honest I doubted I could even make it 1k words. Now it's way more than that, adding the author's notes stuff.**

_**Question of the**_** Week: **Favorite Naruto country or village? (ie Fire Country, Land of Waves, any country or village).

**Remember! ** 5 OR MORE REVIEWS AND I UPDATE NEXT WEEK!

**Love,**

**Cherry.**


	9. Chapter 9: Plan Rematch

**Sunday, April 21st.**

**I got the 5 reviews I needed to update, so here it is!**

**I don't really like this chapter but it needed to be done. **

**It was hard to write it too...so much writer's block. **

**But I did it for you guys! Because I love you!**

**Thanks for the reviews, guys. :D **

**And thank you all, readers.**

_Answer to Question of the_ Week:** Konoha is my favorite village. If I had to pick a country it'd probably be fire. Konoha's green and I think would have a nice climate, and is a lovely village, home to our many favorites. And by the way, Shikamaru is also one of my favorite characters. I can't believe I forgot him...**

**I also noticed my answer to the Question of the Week last week was cut off. I don't know why... Just the last sentence remained...**

Disclaimer: **Kishimoto hasn't contacted me yet, guys, to give me the copyrights. So no.**

**Now read on!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Plan | Rematch

**Sakura POV**

As I arrived at the clearing, I found Haku seated there, admiring the flowers around us.

And truth be told, this clearing/meadow/place was _beautiful_.

_Ino would have a field day…it's gorgeous here._

"Sakura, hello." Haku said. "Here, take a seat." Haku was sitting a circle of bare earth – because he didn't want to sit on the flowers I presumed.

There was room in front of him, so I took it, trying not to be distracted by the beautiful scenery. There's a reason I'm here.

"You had gotten my letter, right?" I nodded.

"Then I should start by saying that I remember everything." My eyes widened, though I figured as much already. What reason would Haku have to get me to meet him if he didn't already know who I was?

"Itachi sent our –mine and Zabuza-sama's– souls back here to assist you. However, around the others, we pretend not to know you. I presume Zabuza-sama did well."

I was stunned. _Zabuza knew?! _

I nodded stiffly. _I think he did _**too good**_ of a job, damnit!_

"Sorry, he may have gotten a bit carried away." Haku said, laughing embarrassedly. My expression confirmed his suspicions, I guess, so he chuckled a bit.

**_You know…just saying, but Haku is totally crush-worthy. He's nice, seems to be the sweet & sensitive type, devoted, handsome albeit feminine…what more could a girl want? Did I mention devoted? We may not be interested in him, but this needed to be said._**

I almost nodded at my Inner, but resorted to saying, _"Yeah,"_ mentally.

"Did I-…**_He_** give you any memories aside from your own?" I asked Haku.

"Sort of," he said. "Think of it this way – we basically watched a movie about your guys' lives, before and after our resurrection, to now. Every night, though, I have dreams about what'd happen if you had never left the future. Do have them too?"

"Some," I said, nodding. "I haven't gotten any in a while, though." _Usually a couple days a week, but I haven't gotten a single one for 10 days now. I know about the fate of…Neji-san, Shikaku-san, I-Inoichi-san, and some others, but not much past that…_**(1)**

Haku smiled. "Then I think you have something to look forward to." _What is he talking about?_**(2)**

"What is it?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "That'd ruin the surprise."

I pouted, but decided to move on. "So why'd you call me here?"

"I wish to form a plan for us to follow for the duration of your stay in Waves." I nodded. _Makes sense…can't have us accidently kill each other if it's not necessary, right?_

"Okay…what do you have in mind? Oh – and I'd rather you guys live this time, if possible. **He** said some events cannot be avoided again, namely deaths, but hopefully, you and Zabuza may live this time." I said. _Their deaths helped us discover Naruto's ninja way, but I still don't want them to die. They deserve a life to live freely…_

"Well, as far as the lives of my master and I go, if Zabuza dies, so do I. If we die, we die, and we can't change that. But…I don't intend to _purposely_ get ourselves killed. How about we leave that up to fate?"

"Agreed."

"Alright, so…." Haku began, and the two of us spent the next hour planning and making a new friend.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Why not sleep with me?" Naruto asked, opening the flap of his futon.

"Because the futons are too small, I don't want to, you snore, and worst of all, you kick in your sleep." I replied evenly, getting under my own convers between Sasuke and Kakashi.

Kakashi was to right, Sasuke was to my left, and to the right of Kakashi was Naruto. We couldn't trust Naruto and Sasuke to sleep together peacefully, and none of the guys wanted Naruto accidently kicking me in his sleep while I was injured before, so next to Kakashi it was.

Naruto pouted at my refusal at first, but said goodnight to all of us, and promptly fell asleep snoring seconds later.

"I still don't understand how he does that," Sasuke commented, looking at his best friend.

"Neither do I," I said.

He smirked at me –_stupid heart, slow down!_– and I returned it with a grin.

Then, I yawned, and looked over to Kakashi to see him asleep. Maybe. He may be pretending…

I turned back to Sasuke. "Goodnight, Sasuke-kun."

I laid futon.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He replied, turning on his side to sleep.

For a little while, I stared at the ceiling, thinking of the events of that night.

At dinner, I had "learned of" Inari's hatred for Gato and the reason he deems everything hopeless – his father's death.**(3)**

Today, Haku also told me that he had talked to Naruto before me, and made sure to talk about his devotion to Zabuza – without mentioning Zabuza's name, of course. He also made sure Naruto knew he was male.

**_So that's why Naruto took so long to just take a leak…_**(4)

_…Yeah…_

I also made sure I had a chance to relay our plan to Sai, so he knew what was going on and wasn't totally oblivious.

I yawned. I g_uess that means "time to sleep, Sakura". _

I soon fell into a deep sleep, anticipated the next day.

* * *

It was the afternoon of the next day, and I'm relentlessly jumpy. I'm sure the others noticed.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "You're so jumpy."

"I'm fine, Naruto." I replied, turning to him. "'You goin' somewhere?"

Naruto was putting on his shoes and zipping up his jacket. "Yeah. I'm going to meet Teme, Teme II, and Kakashi-sensei to train where we learned the tree climbing exercise. **(5) **I almost made it all the way last time! Wanna come?"

_"Around three o'clock in the afternoon, all of you need to be near the forest or even better, in it. We'll find you there."_

Haku's words echoed in my head. It was two right now; the boys would be training for at least an hour. "Yeah, let's go!"

I followed him out the door.

* * *

For a while, I watched the boys do their best to climb all the way to their respective tree while Kakashi read his porn, and answer Sai's questions about society.

"-and that, Sai, is why politics is so delicate. Does that help you?" I was saying, before Naruto suddenly whooped and hollered, running over to me and picking me up, swirling me around in a circle.

"I did it! I did it, Sakura-chan! I finally made it up the tree! And **_before_** Sasuke-teme!" After he put me down, I reciprocated the hug he gave me and congratulated him.

"Congrats, Naruto!" We high-fived.

Then, Sasuke walked over, noticeably irritated. "I finished, too."

Against my better judgment, I hugged him as well, though I parted quickly. He didn't seem to mind the hug –**_was that a blush? Ooh!_** – so I continued to congratulate him.

"That's great, Sasuke-kun!" I said smiling.

"Hn." He replied. I sweat-dropped. _He's going to be pissed for a while…_

Kakashi put his book away, and he and Sai walked up to us. "How about we celebrate with ramen and omusubi, huh? **(5)** I found a good restaurant that has both."

Sasuke's eyes lit up a bit –though he tried to hide it– and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." He said.

Naruto jumped up and down. "Fuck yeah! Let's go!" **(6)**

"Language, Naruto," Kakashi chastised.

Said knucklehead dragged us all the way to a large clearing near the edge of the forest, and would've pulled us all away into town for the restaurant if it wasn't for the kunai nailing itself into a tree nearby.

_"Shit!"_ Kakashi cursed under his breath. **_Says the guy just chastising Naruto for language._**

_It's time,_ I thought, ignoring my Inner's comment.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Hatake and those kids? How about a rematch, huh? One that ends with you _dead_."

Zabuza stepped into the clearing, and immediately, fog thickened the air. "Careful, guys!" Kakashi shouted.

Zabuza turned towards me. "I may have underestimated you earlier, but be warned – this time I'm prepared and will be watching you."

Then, he turned towards the trees and called someone out. "Haku!"

Haku leaped out of the trees, to the ground near his master. "Take care of the kids, will ya'? I'll leave a clone for the pale one and the pink one, too, maybe, but take care of the others. Pinky's is stronger than she looks, so be wary."

Haku, in his combat attire and mask, nodded.

_"Zabuza-sama and I will appear out of the trees, and surround you with the mist. We will engage in a fight – he will fight Kakashi-san, a clone or two will keep Sai-san occupied, while I deal with you, Naruto-kun, and Sasuke-san. As well as a clone of Zabuza's."_

After Zabuza made a clone and had it attack Sai, Haku charged us. Immediately, Naruto and Sasuke were on their guard, fending off the other nin.

It was three vs. one, and Haku still appeared to have the upper hand.

_"I will trap Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san in the mirror dome as before, and if you wish, you may enter it. I will push their limits so Sasuke-san will awaken his Sharingan, but I don't plan on impaling him with many kunai like before. After his Sharingan awakes, I will allow him and Naruto-kun to defeat me. It doesn't matter if Kurama's chakra awakens in Naruto-kun."_

The next moments were spent in a frenzy of ninjutsu and taijutsu against our respective opponents.

Sai at first tried to use his painted beasts to assist him, but they proved to be useless in the mist – melting away after seconds. With no other choice, he used his tanto and taijutsu to fight the Zabuza clone – genjutsu was never his specialty.

Kakashi was locked in a tight battle with the original Zabuza, making sure to keep his fight away from us, as to not get us accidently injured.

I concentrated on my own fight, against Haku and another Zabuza clone with Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke just had his Fuma Shuriken broken into pieces by the Zabuza clone and the small needles of Haku's, which had split the the Shuriken into pieces by somehow needling into its parts and separating them, causing its current status. **(7)**

Naruto just had many of his clones dissipated by Haku's needles, and I just suffered a hard punch to the jaw by the Zabuza clone. _Any minute now…_

"Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" _Just in time._

Zabuza's clone pushed me out of the growing circle of mirrors, engaging me privately while leaving my teammates trapped.

Despite the fact that this was all part of a plan, I panicked. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" I shouted, as my view of them disappeared.

"Sakura!" They both echoed. _I need to calm down…things will be alright this time. No one will get seriously hurt._

"Pay attention, little girl!" Said my Zabuza clone, kicking me in my stomach. The kick sent me flying and I hit a nearby tree. I coughed up blood. _If it wasn't for Haku, I'd think Zabuza didn't remember anything and wasn't on my side at all. He's __**too**__ good at acting like the bad guy._

"Is that all you got?" The clone taunted.

I shook my head, getting up. "Not even close!" I yelled, running at my opponent.

* * *

I was nearing my limit, and the fight seemed to be going on for hours. The whole time, I kept my ears trained to the dome nearby, whilst trying to keep this Zabuza clone from killing me, though I was supposed to be assured that he wouldn't. _This guy should win an Oscar…and he's enjoying this _**way**_ too much._

Several times, Zabuza smirked under his bandages, and grinned. That let me know that he was on my side and that he was enjoying this. A lot.

Suddenly, 3 senbon slipped through the mirrored dome and into a triangle formation near my feet.

To an outsider, it'd be just three regular kunai that slipped through the dome.

To me, it was a message. _"When Sasuke has awakened his Sharingan, I will send three kunai to your feet to make an isosceles triangle."_**(8)**

I thought it was a little odd that he was so specific, but now, I looked at the formation of the kunai. _Yup. Seems about right._

Knowing Naruto & Sasuke vs. Haku was going to end soon, I snuck a look towards my other teammate and sensei.

Sai was covered in gashes and scrapes, but he appeared to be wrapping the fight up after I saw that he noticed the kunai at my feet, remembering the plan.

Kakashi was still engaged in his fight with the original Zabuza, and he appeared to be winning. I could only hope that he wouldn't kill Zabuza. That'd be bad.

I continued my fight with the clone with renewed energy. _It's almost over…_

Suddenly, all the mirrors in the dome shattered and dropped to the ground. The boy who summoned them was in the middle, his mask off to the side, broken in half, and he himself was covered in bruises and cuts.

Near him were Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, and Naruto had Kurama's chakra swirling around him. However, the chakra seemed to be returning back into his body, and the features that were enhanced by the chakra –eyes, teeth, whiskers– slowly returned to normal.

The two of them were panting heavily.

"Haku…" Naruto muttered. _I forgot…he had just discovered the boy he talked to in the forest was the same one he had just defeated._

I turned back to my clone, pulling out a kunai. The clone winked and as I moved to stab his stomach. At first I was confused. But when he didn't make a move to escape me, and willingly dissipated, I realized what the wink was for. It was a signal that he was letting me win the fight.

He let me win it in a way that would seem like a lucky swipe to outsiders, erasing any suspicion.

Suddenly, I heard chirping, and the pulse of energy.

I turned to my sensei. "Chidori!" He yelled, thrusting his hand into Zabuza's side, using his distracted glance at the fallen Haku to his advantage.

Yelling in pain, Zabuza fell to the ground, and Kakashi stood above him, ready if Zabuza was still able to get up.

Sai finished with his clone as well, and ran over to our sensei, ready to assist him if necessary.

Obviously exhausted and defeated, Zabuza sighed. "You and your kids win, Hatake."

We relaxed, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Minus Kakashi and Sai, that is. Kakashi was still on his guard, and Sai was as well for show.

"Mind pulling Haku's body over here? I can get up, but I can't pick Haku up," Zabuza requested. Kakashi looked at him skeptically, but I went over and picked Haku up.

With Sai's help, we placed him next to Zabuza. The scene was too familiar, and I pushed tears back. _They aren't dying this time. Stop crying!_

Haku mouthed "thank you" to us.

"I hate to say this," Zabuza started. "But just because we're down doesn't mean you're done with Gato. He was your original threat, right? Gato doesn't give up…I suggest getting rid of him of you want all this to be over. Where's that carpenter guy, anyway?"

Naruto groaned. "Ugh…I forgot all about that Gato guy!"

"Where is he?" Kakashi asked, ignoring Zabuza's last question and Naruto's outburst.

"Right here!" A voice shouted.

All of us turned to the owner.

There was Gato, as well as seemingly all of his hired mercenaries and rouge ninja.

They had us completely surrounded.

_Shit._

* * *

**(1): **If you've read the manga since New Year's, you know what I'm talking about. She's saying her dreams haven't progressed much farther than those incidents.**  
(2): **Chapter 627. Enough said. The manga was on break this week, too, so we were left hanging since that chapter...damn. At least it'll update this coming week.**  
(3): **When I wrote that sentence, I was getting this memory I had of when I was watching an anime a couple years back. The male, main character was trying to prove to this kid that anything was possible by learning to do a backflip in a week. The kid reminded me greatly of Inari, and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember what the protagonist's name was and what anime he was from. All I remembered was that he was from a shounen, I watched it a couple year's back, he's male, and his hair is not very dark, if dark at all. Then, I remembered that it was Ueki, or _Kousuke_ from Law of Ueki. I was so relieved. That had me stumped for days and it was driving me nuts.**  
(4): **Remember in the last chapter Sakura mentioned Naruto taking a while to get back from answering nature's call in the woods? Now you know why.**  
(5): **Teme II = Sai. It's one of Naruto's nicknames for him.**  
(6): **That was inspired by a Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood English blooper. That was hilarious. Al's voice saying, "Fuck yeah!" as a kid...I died. Here: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Outakes *SPOILERS***  
(7): **Remember Sasuke vs. Itachi in Shippuden? Sasuke threw his Fuma shuriken at Itachi, and as Itachi epically jumped through it, Sasuke used the chakra strings he attached to the weapon to split it apart. That's the effect I was thinking of here. Sorry if it was confusing. Just see that scene and imagine that it was from Haku's senbon (plural) splitting it apart rather than chakra strings pulling them apart.**  
(8): **If you don't know, an isosceles triangle is a triangle with 2 equally-length sides and one that isn't the same length. If none of the sides are the same length, it's scalene, if they all are, they're equilateral. Blame math...and I'm not sure why I had an isosceles triangle rather than not specifying at all or just something else. It is what it is.

**I didn't like this chapter much. I just didn't. But it had to be written.**

**Question of the Week: **_Which of the American Big Three anime (Bleach, Naruto, One Piece) have you seen and can you rank them in order (if you've seen two or all three)?_

BTW, guys. My 50th reviewer will get a one-shot with their choice of pairing as long as I ship it, too (I can't write anything I don't have a shred of belief in) as well as the plot of their choice. DoOver right now as of chapter 25 (I'm updating it RIGHT after this) so that's why I'm bringing it up, since I'm doing it for the 100th reviewer.

Same will apply to my 100th reviewer of ReWind, 150th, etc. Alright?

**Love,**

**Cherry.**


	10. Goodbye Waves, Hello Get-Together!

**Sunday, April 18th, 2013.**

**Hey guys! I think this was a better chapter than the last one. Okay, but not fantastic.**

**But luckily for all of us, the next chapter is going to be the start of the "Sasuke's Birthday" thing.**

**Two be honest, I already 2 chapters for that months ago. I think Sasuke's birthday will be a period of 3-4 chapters. Long, but good nonetheless.**

**Then after that will be a chapter or two about what the others like Karin, Itachi, and Temari are all doing at this time. 'Kay? **

**The Chunin Exams will be next. I want to go pretty quickly through the Chunin Exams this time - in DoOver, I spent over 20 chapters on it. Not going to do that again.**

**Answer to last Question of the Week: **_1. One Piece. 2. Naruto. I haven't seen much of Bleach yet so I can't rank it. But yeah. OP's my number one anime overall, too, while Naruto is #2. OP was my favorite for 5 years some time back, and then played limbo with Naruto before and afterward until it took its place now as number one. There's my Naruto peeves I've told you about, and the lack of character development for some characters and overkill of filelrs that bumped Naruto down some. So OP's number one. It may be like 0.0001% romance, and for a hopeless romantic like me that may usually be bad, but OP's good points make up for it. **I suggest you watch it if you haven't** - the animation may not be stellar at first, and it may be slow at first, but so was Naruto and see how much you love it now? You'll love OP. Believe me._

And for fellow OP fans, it'll be on Toonami starting May 18th I **THINK,** working with FUNimation since they dub it now. Sadly, they'll be starting at the Davy Back Fights (it's not filler - it was an actual arc in the manga, believe it or not), which I think is kinda stupid since you'll be skipping a shitload of stuff. Despite the fact that they say they'll have flashbacks to show people what went on before, I think they should've started at Arlong Park, since it'd be a bad move to start at the beginning since OP's so long. You may skip some stuff at Arlong, but not everything. And you wouldn't skip Alabasta. (Though Vivi wasn't actually part of the crew, I don't believe she should be skipped). It'd give more value to the Merry and Robin when they get to Water 7 and Enies Lobby. How would you explain Laboon when you get to Brooke? And the Dials from Skypiea when you get to Water 7? Flashbacks, sure, but still...

Toonami, I haven't been this disappointed in you since I learned MAR won't be coming back.

**So yeah... for those of you who haven't seen One Piece yet, don't worry about the above paragraph. Just an annoyed rant...**

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Naruto, there'd be successful, canon, romance. How much canon romance is there in Naruto that ended well? Basically just MinaKushi, right? Hayate Gekko died, so he couldn't marry his fiancee, and Asuma died before he could marry Kurenai. That wouldn't have happened had I owned Naruto.

**So yeah. It's an okay chapter. But with SasuSaku in it, so I hope you like it. I wanted some SasuSaku!Development so when the REAL romance starts, it won't be abrupt. It'll actually have foundation. 'Kay?**

**Btw, I had a weird dream the other night induced by some stuff I wrote in this chapter. I'll tell you at the bottom of the page if you want to read it. Actually, it was a good dream, kinda, and one of the most normal dreams I've had in a while.**

**So yeah... READ!**

* * *

Chapter 10: Goodbye Waves and Hello "Get-Together"!

**Sakura POV**

It was only hours later on my futon, fighting sleep, feeling beaten, bloodied and dirtied despite having taken a shower that I thought back on what had just transpired.

After Gato had surrounded us with his men, our team had done our best to fend them off, though vastly outnumbered.

Even the tired Zabuza and _even more_ exhausted Haku pitched in. Unfortunately, Haku was so drained, he resorted to targeting the men with his senbon from the trees nearby, and I cast a genjutsu around him to keep the enemies from finding him in his tree and try to kill him. _Notice I said "try" to kill him._

Luckily for us, the men were weak, and many were beaten easily.

Soon, all that was left was some of the stronger men, two of Gato's lackeys, and Gato himself.

Slowly running out of steam, Sasuke, Naruto, and I all fought together against the last of the mercenaries. Sai fought Zori and Waraji (the two lackeys I mentioned) with Kakashi's help, and we let Zabuza handle Gato.

Gato's death wasn't pleasant, and eerily similar to before. Though, instead of complete decapitation like last time**(1)**, he was killed by Zabuza slitting his throat with a kunai in his mouth.

The scene was kind of nostalgic, in a sick way.

Afterwards, Sai helped Haku from his tree and to the clearing where we all resided. None of us had much energy left, and only wanted to remain in the clearing, watching the sunset after Zabuza had dispelled his mist.

Right then, Tazuna came running to us with some of his co-workers, saying they heard a commotion. We gave him a brief summary of what had happened, and made sure to get across that Zabuza and Haku were no longer threats. For now, at least – Kakashi wasn't very trusting of them quite yet, and neither was Sasuke.

Naruto was totally fine with them, though. Especially with Haku.

So with the bridge builders' help, we got to Tazuna's house, as they, per Tazuna's orders, spread the word about Gato and dealt with his body.

I remember some of the men whispering about throwing a party tomorrow, to celebrate their freedom from Gato. Tazuna, overhearing, smiled a _true_ smile for the first time since I first met him in the other timeline. _It must feel good without Gato reigning over them anymore… now the Land of Waves can flourish._

Tsunami-san had cleaned and dressed all of our wounds as best she could, as an excited Inari, post learning about Gato's fate, hounded Naruto for details of the skirmish. Naruto of course, made it exaggerated and elaborate, and I'm sure that Inari could smell the bullshit from miles away anyway, but his eyes were gleaming so brightly that no one said anything. Like I said, I'm sure he knew. _He finally believes that nothing is impossible. That's all we wanted, right?_

Once my wounds were dressed, I used a bit of medical ninjutsu to partially heal as many injuries as possible. _I suck so bad right now… damn it!_

Tsunami welcomed Zabuza and Haku to stay for dinner, and unable to deny their grumbling stomachs, they accepted, but left the house afterwards to sleep at their own place wherever that was.

"We wouldn't like to impose any longer than we already have," they had said. Note this came from Zabuza's mouth. It was.. odd hearing something so formal and polite from Zabuza, and he seemed to _feel_ just as odd, shifting uncomfortably. **_He must not be used to such treatment. He IS an S-ranked Missing Nin after all..._**

Inari begged them to stay –the moment he heard the stories of Zabuza's abilities and saw his sharp teeth as he ate, he was hooked– but they insisted.

So now, my team lays here, sleeping, like logs, and it's now time for me to, judging from my yawn.

_What more is there to think about? The plan was a success, Zabuza and Haku are both alive, and we leave the day after tomorrow. There's nothing else to it. A mission successfully completed._

I allowed myself to fall into the irresistible world of sleep.

* * *

"Can we open our eyes yet?" I asked. It was 2 days since the death of Gato, and today we go back home to Konoha.

Tazuna had led us all to who-knows-where -actually, I think I know where- with Tsunami and Inari with our eyes closed, to give us some kind of going-away-gift.

Now, here we stood, waiting for the moment to open our eyes. I'm pretty sure I know what the surprise is.

"Yeah, you can open 'em," Tazuna replied to Naruto.

I took my hands away from my eyes and gasped.

"What do you think?" Inari asked, practically jumping in excitement.

In front of us was the entrance to the still-unfinished-bridge. Above the bridge was a large sign.

It said, "The Great Bridge of Seven."

Our team gazed at it in amazement and shock.

"If I may ask… why the 'Great Bridge of Seven'?" Kakashi asked. "Not that I'm not grateful and flattered and all that, but just out of curiosity."

Tazuna shrugged. "After the story about you guys and Gato, all of the workers decided to name the bridge after you all. The 'Great Bridge of Seven' has a mysterious sort of ring to it, and it sounded cooler than the 'Great Team 7 Bridge'. Too archaic and plain, I thought."

Tazuna thrust a thumb over to Inari. "This little guy's 2nd choice was the 'Great Naruto Bridge', to be honest."

"Really? Sweet, Inari!" Naruto high-fived Inari.

"What about Zabuza and Haku? They helped against Gato and his goons just as much as we did." Naruto asked.

"They can't very well have a sign thanking two missing nin, can they? That wouldn't be good at all." Sai replied.

"Oh." Naruto said simply.

"The title of the bridge represents, it implies seven people, and it does - you all, and Haku and Zabuza. But if anyone asks, we'll say it's for you guys, Team 7. But if the two decide to join a hidden village and get their names cleared and start over or something, _then_ we'll make it known that the title thanked them, too," Tazuna commented. "But for now, like the kid said, we can't do anything like that."

"Thank you everyone, for this." I said.

"It's the least we could do for what you all did for us." Tsunami said.

I wanted to say something like, _"Oh, we didn't do all that much,"_ but to them, I knew we did. We freed them from Gato and his greedy ways. Without him, the village can grow in wealth and economy. The village wouldn't be so poor anymore, in a couple years' time. How is that **_not_** a big deal?

The others must've understood this as well, because they didn't say anything about it.

* * *

We said our goodbyes to the family -full of hugs, grunts, tears, and promises of meeting again in the future- and headed down the road out of the village once we had crossed the river.

"I really wish we could have said goodbye to Haku and Zabuza…" Naruto said, pouting.

I nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, here's your chance." Kakashi said.

_What?_

Just then, the aforementioned men leaped from the trees and down to the front of us.

Zabuza looked the same as usual, minus the threatening air and the addition of bandages.

Haku, his mask hanging on a string on his side, was still covered in bandages, even more than Zabuza. But I knew he was healing well.

But the weird the was what Haku had in his hand.

It was his rabbit. The white one that showed up before.

I used to think he _was_ the rabbit, but I guess it's just a really weird, cute, bunny.**(2)**

As he stroked the white ball of fluff, he and Zabuza approached us.

"I insisted that we say our goodbyes." Haku began. "Zabuza wanted the dramatic 'they-know-that-we-can't-meet-with-them-now-so we-say-our-goodbyes-in-silence-leaving-a-message-b ehind' sort of thing, but I insisted on a direct farewell. I think he's been watching too many dramatic action movies."

Zabuza rolled his eyes, and Naruto stifled his laugh.

Zabuza shook hands with all of us, leaving me for last. When it was my turn, I purposely squeezed his hand harshly, and he returned with equal strength.

In the end, there wasn't a winner, but I had the feeling there would be some kind of rematch in the future. His wink proved my suspicions.

The ruffling of my hair only served to piss me off, though.

Haku hugged and fist-bumped Naruto –it's so _weird_ seeing the feminine-looking Haku doing that– and shook hands with Sai, Sasuke, and Kakashi.

When he got to me, Haku hugged me and kissed my temple. My face burned.

"I hope we meet again soon," he said, winking at me. _He's just teasing me… damn him!_

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke's fists clench, but I didn't think on it.

"Here," Haku said, pushing a small, square-shaped, maroon, case decorated with traditional Japanese flower designs into my hand. "I hope this will become of use to you, and that you'd like it."

I opened the box.

Inside was a cherry blossom hair pin, the kind with comb teeth. _He must've gotten a pin rather than a hair stick because of my short hair…**(3)**_

The pin was simple, but beautiful and I loved it. _It's gorgeous… where did he get it?!_

I hugged Haku in excitement and thanks. "Thank you _so_ much, Haku! It's beautiful!"

When I pulled away, he said, "Your welcome. Think of it as a beautiful gift for a beautiful young woman." **_Woman, huh? Is that a hint of our real age, or just a compliment?_**

I nodded at him, blushing again. _Is he flirting with me? But I know he's not attracted to me… maybe he's just being nice. And teasing me or something._

**_Who knows? Or cares? Not me!_**

Again, from my peripheral vision, I saw Sasuke scowl. _Maybe he's impatient to leave?_

Zabuza grunted. "That's my cue, I guess." Haku said, turning.

Before he walked away completely with Zabuza. "We hope to see you again soon, everyone. Until then."

And they leaped into the trees and disappeared.

"What'd he give you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said.

I opened the box again, showing everyone.

"It's pretty, Sakura," Kakashi commented.

"Yes, it is. I wonder where he acquired such a thing." Sai said.

"Who cares? I don't! But it's really beautiful, Sakura-chan! It'll look great on you!" Naruto replied.

"Thanks, Naruto."

Sasuke looked at it for a moment, and turned away, grunting. "It's nice, I guess." It was obvious he was upset about something. To me at least.

I'm not sure where his sour mood came from, but I decided not to ask about it. "Mm." I hummed. _He must really want to get home._

* * *

***Knock knock, evening of the next day***

_Ugh… Who is that? I'm hungry!_

It was past sundown of the next day and I was going to prepare something for dinner with the groceries I just bought, since most of the food in my fridge had gotten old from the unexpectedly longer mission. _It was about a week - longer than predicted_

I walked to the door and threw it open, seeing Sasuke standing there. "Sasuke-kun?"

He fidgeted, and it reminded me of when we talked in the forest in Waves. "Um, wanna go eat dinner?"

I tilted my head, signaling I'm not sure what he meant by what he said. _...What? Dinner?_

"Well, I thought we might as well have a celebratory dinner for the mission, you know?"

I decided against a comment about the irony of Sasuke planning a social gathering of all people and replaced it with something else. "But we ate a ton of ramen yesterday," I said.

"Ramen isn't **_food_.** I was going to get Kakashi and the Dobe but the Dobe's sleeping like a log, and Kakashi wouldn't answer his door or phone. I have no idea where Sai is."

"So you want us to eat dinner together." I stated, still not quite understanding what was going on.

"Aa."

"…Okay." _What just happened?_

* * *

The dinner was actually pretty fun. We went to a new, local restaurant that sold good, inexpensive food and essentially pigged out. It was way better than the ramen yesterday. _I need to come here again sometime! This place is amazing!_

Surprisingly, we had the place all to ourselves, and we talked openly –or as open as Sasuke could get– with each other, similar to our talk in the forest, but one hundred times better.

We talked about all sorts of things – anime, training, books that we've read, our team, etc. It was fun. _Spending a night like that with him is like a dream… _

**_Almost like a date! *squeal*_**

_It's __**not**__ a date! It's just a get-together between friends._

**_Fine. Maybe it isn't, but this "get-together between friends" is incredible!_**

_Agreed._

Unfortunately, when we were done, Sasuke wouldn't let me pay a cent of a bill. It wasn't a very huge one, since like I said, the restaurant was not an expensive one, but it wasn't cheap either with all the food we ate.

"Deal with it, Sakura, I'm paying." He had said. He also brought out the point that he had a lot more money to spend comfortably than I did, which was true: I live off my mission money and the money and credit card the Third gave me, while he is part of a rich clan, though he lives alone. **_Sounds legit._**

Sasuke walked me home, and in thanks, I hugged him and kissed his cheek, saying "Goodnight". I _know_ I saw a blush on his cheeks as he replied with a "G'night" and left.

I didn't want to think on what that could mean. _I would build up false hope… and then be crushed when I learn the truth – there wasn't anything there._

I yawned, turning over in my bed. "Time to sleep now," I muttered, and drifted off.

* * *

**Sasuke POV**

_Why the hell did I blush then? _I thought, laying in my bed.

_She just hugged me and kissed me on the cheek… nothing big._

**_Maybe we're developing feelings for her. I mean, she's your friend, and you're ready and willing to admit that even, especially with all she's done for us. And she's also a pretty girl, like Haku pointed out. She probably likes us, too._**

_Hell no. No. Way. Inner._

**_Why not?_**

_Because… she's just my friend. Nothing more._

**_Okay, so maybe we don't like her yet. But I think, at this rate, it could happen._**

_Tch. Yeah right._

**_Do you also deny that you were jealous when Haku kissed her, complimented her, and gave her that hair pin?_**

_Yes I do. _

**_Then how do you explain your fist-clenching and scowls?_**

_I simply was impatient to get going._

**_Right. *sigh* Puberty is such a pain in the ass… This'll be a _**_long__** journey, Outer.**_

_Just shut up and let me sleep._

And with that, I was out like a light.

* * *

**(1): In the manga, apparently, Gato was decapitated completely, whereas he drowned and was cut several times in the anime. So his first death was manga-verse here.  
(2): Remember in the anime Kakashi found the white bunny odd? That's because it should've been brown this time of year or something. That's why Sakura's calling it weird - its fur color is unnatural. I'm not actually sure if the "should-be-brown" thing is true in real life, but whatever. To this day, I'm not sure if the bunny was Haku transformed, or Haku's pet or something, but I don't feel like looking it up and here, the bunny's going to be his pet.**  
**(3): Had Sakura had long hair (remember she cut it at the bell test) and Haku knew she'd keep it that way (he knew she was going to cut it if it wasn't already) I would've had him give her a hair stick. But she doesn't, so a pin it was. The kind with comb teeth. I wanted him to give her some kind of traditional gift because he's a traditional guy, I think. Sorta.**  
Links to parts of the pin:

I'm afraid the links aren't showing up, so I'll leave it to your imagination, guys. Sorry. Look up "hair combs" on Google Images. The teeth are like that, but instead of acting like a comb, the gift is a PIN, so it remains in your hair. The teeth are to keep it there. And it has sakura blossoms on it.

Get it?

**And HAKU DOES NOT LIKE SAKURA! HE'S JUST TEASING HER AND SASUKE! He flirted with Sakura to make Sasuke jealous and tease her.**

So okay, my dream

**The day I wrote about Haku petting his bunny (about two days ago) I had a dream about some guy, a cute one I think, who had a lot of baby rabbits and let me play with some. I got really attached to one, and I REALLY wanted it - I wanted a bunny period. They were all the same color - gray-ish and white.**

**The bunnies seemed more white with stripes or vice-versa rather than totally gray. Kay? And they were really small: they could fit in your hand easily, and about the length of a Samsung Galaxy, if not a bit longer. And a tad thinner. Like a skinny guinea pig.**

**They all looked basically the same, but I identified them all buy a color - the one I wanted and was attached to was "orange". There were six of them in total, maybe five, but the only "colors" I remember now are "yellow", "blue", and maybe "green" and/or "purple".**

**Anyway, the guy said I could pick one up to keep the next day, so I came back to his place (a mostly empty house that is the setting for many of my dreams that I've never seen anywhere - not in a show, anime, real life - nowhere) but got the "yellow" one instead. I really wanted "orange" since I was attached to it, but yeah. Oh, well. **

**So that was my dream. It was actually connected to another dream, some sort of treasure hunt (the treasure was a jewel in a game I played way too many times: FireBoy and WaterGirl. The green gem) and having that treasure allowed me to get a bunny in the first place, but yeah. **

**So now, I crave to own a little bunny rabbit. Not that it'll happen. I don't think I could properly take care of one, and my parents won't take in pets.**

**Question of the Week: **_What are your favorite music genres?_

**Love you all!**

**Don't forget to review!**

**Wow... 1.5k words of this chapter is just AN.**

**-Cherry**

**...I WANT A BUNNY!**


	11. Chapter 11: Mother-Daughter Bonding

**Sunday, May 12th, 2013.**

**Happy Mother's Day, guys!**

**I hope you celebrated your mothers or any mother figure you may have, or honored any that may have passed on. **

**I joined my church choir again for the first time in like 2 years. It was that bad. (I have stage fright, usually, and that's why I avoided it)**

**Answer to last QotW:** _I'm a rock-ish sorta girl. And whatever genre Pierce the Veil, Mayday Parade, Sleeping with Sirens, and My Chemical Romance (disbanded March 22 of this year, DX), etc would fall under. I'd hate to say "emo", because they're not and I hate that the word is so derogatory now, but that's all I could think of. Not quite hardcore or scene... but not rock either. Punk, I guess? But yeah. And pop, too. I like some pop, like Kelly Clarkson (since I was a kid), Demi Lovato (LOVE her), Katy Perry, some Ke$ha, Maroon 5, etc. I have a longer list of my favorite bands on my profile._

**So guys, thanks for bearing with me with the 2 AN's. **

**Now, I just need help with **Sakura's present for Sasuke, as well as Kakashi's gift**. I may have known what I was going to do before, but whatever it was, I forgot, so now I'm lost. I **know** what **Sai **and **Naruto** are going to give Sasuke. **Kakashi and Sakura**... not so much. Mostly Sakura, though.**

So what should Sakura and Kakashi give Sasuke for his birthday? **No **Icha Icha Paradise, or that sorta thing.

**I also know what I'm going to do with Fugaku:  
**He never existed**, as far as I'm concerned. And if I'm correct, only Mikoto and maybe Shisui have been mentioned, who I'm keeping.**

Disclaimer:** Mikoto, you have the honors with Tsume, Kurenai, Yoshino, Ino's mother, and Kushina. And basically any other moms I may have missed.**

**Moms: EOC doesn't own Naruto, guys! She just owns the plot and OCs!/Dattebane!**

**Btw, guys, the "dattebane" is from Kushina. Naruto got his catch phrase from her.**

Remember how I said I had two chapters prepared?** There were two chapters, but they **were too short**. so I combined them to make a 4k word one. Kay? So I still need to write the next chap.**

**Also, coming up will be some NejiTen. Since Neji's birthday is 20 days before Sasuke's, and since Tenten will be involved a bit with Sasuke's present, I decided I will have either Neji or Tenten have a flashback about his birthday. Kay?**

**No, I'm not telling you anymore. That's a surprise. I haven't even written that chapter yet. (It's just one chapter... hopefully)**

**READ ON, LOVES! Indirect SasuSaku galore!**

**As well as... a bit of ItaHana!**

**Enjoy!**

**BTW, I wrote this months ago, initially, even though I've edited multiple times since, like now when I always do when I update a chapter. So... my writing...**

* * *

Chapter 11: Mother-Daughter Bonding. Sort of.

**Sakura POV**

It's been 2 months since the Land of Waves.

It's July.

July 16th.

Exactly a week until Sasuke-kun's birthday.

I'm planning something, by the way. **_As if it wasn't obvious enough already._**

That's also why I'm standing in front of the Uchiha Manor's Main House door after it was slammed in my face by a young woman with dark brown hair in maid's attire the moment I said, "Hello ma'am. I'm Haruno Sakura and I-"

**_Rude maid. She looks young, too. Like… mid-late twenties. Is she new or something?_**

Agreeing with my Inner's comment, I listened to the voices coming from the inside, of a woman scolding the maid, as if her own daughter, about shutting doors in people's faces.

_"Sakura…that was the name of one of Sasuke's fangirls! And even if she's not the same Sakura, she's probably just another fangirl anyway."_

_"You don't know that Ana-chan!"_

_"Mikoto-sama…"_

_"You have worked her for years, since you were a teen, and I love you like my own daughter. And just so, as your employer and your 'mother', I demand that you open the door for that poor young girl right now! __Alright? After that, you may continue your work in the garden."_

_"Hai…"_**(1)**

The door swung open, and I saw the face of a beautiful young woman with waist-length black hair, and a sweet, pale face beside the maid. _Definitely an Uchiha._

Immediately after the door opened, the maid bowed to the other woman and hurried into the house, to someplace I couldn't see.

"Hello, honey. Do you need something?"

I smiled and nodded. "Hello, Uchiha-san. My name is Sakura Haruno and I'm Sasuke-kun's teammate. I have a request to ask of you, but first a question."

The woman I figured out to be Mikoto nodded. _I should know that name…_ "Shoot, dear."

Immediately upon trying to get my question out, I felt a bit embarrassed and started scratching my chin with my finger. "Excuse my insolence but… um…are you Sasuke-kun's cousin? He said he had a cousin, but I'm pretty sure he said he was male…and you seem a bit young to be his mother…"

_Is she really old enough to be Sasuke's as well as **Itachi's** mother? She looks like she's in her early-mid 30s… _

**_Two options: 1. She had Itachi as a teenager. (Unlikely because it'd shame the clan) 2. She just _**_looks__** young and IS their mother.**_

Mikoto stared. **_…What? Is there something on our face?_**

Then laughed like she was going to die if she didn't. **_She probably would die if she continued. She looks like she's going to make a lung burst or something._**

"Oh-h, dearie…you're so sweet! If only Shisui were here to hear this… _'Cousin'…_ I still look young!"

Noticing my face only got redder and I only got smaller and smaller, the woman stopped laughing and calmed down, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry for making you feel embarrassed dear; I just really adore your statement. I'm actually Sasuke-kun's mother. He's not here by the way. He lives alone in an apartment now, and only comes by occasionally to spend time with his cousin and I."

For a moment, I stared stupidly, then nodded, trying to hide my flushed face from embarrassment.. "Oh, sorry. But I know Sasuke-kun's not here. That's why I came."

Mikoto tilted her head in confusion. "Hm? Why?"

"I want to throw Sasuke-kun a small, surprise birthday party for his well… birthday."

Mikoto's eyes widened, then she pulled me inside quickly and shut the door.

A little disoriented, I staggered. And then Mikoto hugged me, making me even dizzier.

"H-huh?" I muttered.

When the world stopped spinning, and Mikoto had let go, I was pulled (gently) to the couch.

Sitting, we faced each other. "That's great! Fantastic! I didn't know Sasu-kun had a teammate so sweet!"

I blushed again, looking away for a moment. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

"Oh, just call me Mikoto! The 'Uchiha-san' makes me feel old! The '-san' part alone still makes me feel old!"

"M-mikoto…-s…-san. Nope. I can't do it."

"Well poo. We'll just work on that later."

"…" **_Is Sasuke really related to this woman? Their faces says one thing –no doubt he got his looks from her– but their attitudes say another. Same goes for Itachi, though he doesn't look as much like her. Maybe he got his looks from his dad…_**

"So, about Sasu-chan's b-day party. Who's attending?"

"Um, I was thinking the team, family, and any family friends you think he'd –secretly**(2)**– enjoy having around, really. That's it."

"Oh, that's good! Sasu-kun isn't a fan of crowds anyway. Just a moment, let me get a notebook and pen to write this stuff down!"

Mikoto-san disappeared into the hallway, and while I waited, I looked at the family pictures, for some reason drawn to them.

There were many of Mikoto, Fugaku, Sasuke, Itachi, and a boy with –weird– curly-spiky black hair. I assumed that was "Shisui", who Sasuke and Mikoto had mentioned a few times. He was Sasuke's cousin. Itachi's age.

I saw a picture of a young Shisui with an older man that looked like him -_his father?_-, and a sweet-looking woman who was holding him. He seemed about 3 in the picture.

However, after that, were no more of his mother. Shisui was mostly shown with Sasuke's brother, Itachi and parents. _She must have died while he was young… and Mikoto helped raise him._

Suddenly, another picture caught my eye, and almost made me gasp aloud. _No way! That's-…that's-…_

**_Hana Inuzuka! Kiba's older sister! She was Itachi's teammate? That explains why Kiba seems to hate Sasuke so much. Itachi's leaving must have hurt her, and Kiba must blame Sasuke and the family for her pain._**

_So in this time, she was close to the Uchihas… she must have been heartbroken with Itachi's leaving…_

I saw a couple more pictures of Hana and a purple-haired girl with clear brown eyes. Others had Hana, Shisui, Itachi, Sasuke, Kiba, and that girl.

Near those were multiple pictures of Shisui and the mystery girl, in some of which included them kissing. _His girlfriend…_

"I'm back!" Mikoto's voice jolted me out of my trance.

"I see you were looking at the pictures," she said as she took a seat beside me on the couch.

I nodded silently, flushing at being caught. However, she smiled warmly. "I have a couple albums we can look at if you want when we're done. I think Naruto will keep Sasuke busy for the next couple hours if he ever felt like coming today, so we're good."

"I'd like that, Mikoto-san."

"Great! Then we should get through this, shouldn't we? Let's get started!" I nodded excitedly and Mikoto had her pen ready for her notebook.

"So, here's what I think we should-"

* * *

"And this was Sasuke when he was 4, playing in his room with his favorite, green, little dinosaur that I gave him on his 2nd birthday.**(3)** See it? Right there!" Mikoto and I had finished our plans for Sasuke's surprise birthday party a while ago, and we were now looking through Mikoto's favorite albums.

I almost felt a little bad for looking through Sasuke's baby pictures without his consent, but I think his shouldn't-be-legal cuteness made up for it. _It's his fault for being so adorable… And it makes me happy to know a bit more about him… knowing more about he grew up…_

"So…so…cute!" I couldn't help but squeal.

"Wasn't he? Oh, look at-…um, this is a picture of Sasuke and Itachi before…the incident." Immediately the air tensed. "See the two of them? Sasuke really adored his older brother…and Itachi loved him a lot, too."

This picture was of the two in what I assume to be Itachi's bed, asleep. Little Sasuke's head rested against his brother's arm, barely on the pillow, and he was sleeping on his back. Meanwhile, Itachi was on his side, one arm under his brother's head, the other across Sasuke's torso, as if protecting him. He was surrounding his brother, like a warm cocoon. Between them, under Itachi's arm was Sasuke's precious dinosaur.

The photo was taken on flash at night.

_Even then, Itachi was protecting Sasuke…_

"Mikoto-san, if I may ask…"

Mikoto looked up from the picture, snapping out the daze she was in that I was sure were of happy memories before the Massacre. "Yes?"

"How-…how old were, um, Sasuke-kun and…his brother in his picture?"

Mikoto's smile was bittersweet and small as she answered me. I can only imagine what if felt like to be nearly killed along with her family by her own son and not know why. _I refuse to believe she believes that Itachi did it to "test his capacities", like he told Sasuke._

"Sasuke was almost 5, while Itachi was nearly 10. Sasuke probably had a nightmare and snuck into his brother's room. He does-…did that often."

Mikoto looked at the ground, forlorn once again. I took it upon myself to turn the next page.

"Hana…" I whispered, seeing Hana again in this picture.

At the (my) far left of the picture, she was wearing a simple maroon, thin-strap, knee-length dress, with black, two-inch heels, and her hair up in a hairstyle I could never accomplish. **_The fancy bun looks great on her!_**

She had pink lip gloss, and earrings of…black feathers? One feather on each earring.

To the left of her (and our right) was Itachi, who was wearing a black suit with his hair in its usual style. His black blazer was open, viewing the gray vest, white button-up dress shirt and black tie.

_Even in such simple clothing he's handsome, I won't deny that... Oh God! I'm calling my love's brother handsome!_

**_It's the truth – nothing wrong with that. Besides; it's kinda hard to go wrong in a suit._**

To the other side of Itachi was Shisui, who was also wearing a suit, but he holding the blazer over his shoulder with his right hand, and had no vest and the tie was undone around his neck, reminding me oddly of a boa. The accessory… not the snake.

To Shisui's left and holding his left hand was the purple-haired girl again. She was wearing a teal dress that was a tad longer than Hana's, but unlike hers, the purple-haired girl's dress was ruffled from the waist down. The color complimented her hair. ..._I sound like Ino!_

All of them (except Shisui, as his hands were full) were holding glasses of slightly bubbly drink. Its color reminded me of beer, though I knew it wasn't beer. I think it was alchohol-free Champaign. You can buy that anywhere now.**(4)**

…Damn Tsunade. Thanks to her I know too much about alcohol.

"This was a party I threw here at the Manor, to celebrate Itachi becoming ANBU captain. I made them dress up and all that. They were all 13. The earrings Hana's wearing were from Itachi for her 13th birthday. The girl with the purple hair is Shisui's girlfriend, Arakawa Murasaki, but she prefers her nickname, Mura. She's a civilian. At the time this picture was taken, she wasn't Shisui's girlfriend yet. Shisui was crazy for her anyway; had been since he first saw her. It took a bit for her to warm up to him, but I could tell, even at this time of the picture, she liked him," Mikoto explained to me.

_Murasaki…"Purple"__**(5)**__…her name fits well. I guess I shouldn't be talking though – my name means "cherry blossoms", which are pink. Like my hair._

"Hana, Itachi, and Shisui had all graduated together 1½ years early, at about 12, rather than the usual 13-14.**(6)** Though Hana had to work incredibly hard to graduate with the two, she made it and they were put on a team together. Even after Shisui had become Jounin and Itachi ANBU captain, they wanted to stay as a team. At this time, Shisui was a jounin and Hana was a chunin."

I was glad to hear the lighter tone in Mikoto's voice. _She isn't as sad anymore. Good._

**_But I also had no idea Hana was so strong…but why didn't she move past Chunin in the future? Was it because she was a medic-ninja too? Or was her relationship different with Itachi in the future…Or maybe she just wasn't that strong in our future._**

Suddenly, my eye caught something I didn't notice before in the picture. The way Hana looked at Itachi…

"She… Hana loves Itachi, doesn't she?" The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them.

When I realized it, I covered my moth with my hands, but Mikoto merely smiled –laced with hidden pain– and nodded.

"You're more perceptive than I thought. Able to see such a thing from a mere picture."

I only nodded.

"But yes, she did love Itachi, even at such a young age. It still is difficult to tell whether or not he returned her feelings, though I doubt he did. Even so, I know he cared about her, and I'm 100% positive she wasn't in his normal 'friend-zone' nearing the time of the…incident." Our mouths quirked at her use of the teen lingo.

_I sound old. "Teen lingo"._

"I'm sure, given more time, he would have returned those feelings, albeit slowly. I always figured he and Sasuke would be slow to love that way."

"Did she ever…tell Itachi?" I asked. I couldn't help but ask. I just-… I just felt I had to know.

_She's just like me…loving a criminal at a young age even before he was a criminal. And in Hana's case, with a terrible twist where the criminal was really a silent hero. How would I have felt if I was in her position? Instead of leaving the village and becoming another person obsessed with love-based_**(7)**_, but ill-placed, revenge, my beloved had massacred his family and became an S-Rank nin for reasons unknown to me?_

"I'm sure he already knew without being told, but… I think… I think she did. The night of the incident, Itachi had left through the gate but Hana had tried to stop him. I think she told him then. I wouldn't know for sure – she never told anyone what exactly happened that night except that she couldn't stop him and he raced passed her without hurting her, exiting the village. She never even told Shisui, me, Kiba or Mura – her best friend. I'm sure however, even after all this time, she still loves my son."

I had frozen. _Tried to stop him when he left? Confessed? How more alike can we be….?_

**_At least we have someone who understands our pain, Sakura. As selfish as it is, I've wanted that for so long, instead of hearing, "I understand how you feel," when they don't! They don't know what it's like to have their love ripped from them, be too weak to do anything but watch as he turns into a heart-broken, shell of human, driven by revenge! To be almost killed by him without hesitation -though we tried first, granted- and have to save the life of who should have been his comrade because he nearly ended it! They don't get it! But she…Hana does! And I'm glad Outer. I really am._**

_Oh, Inner…_

Something warm on my cheek startled me out of my head.

I looked and saw that it was Mikoto wiping my tears. _I was…I was crying?_

Hastily, I tried wiping my tears myself. "I-I'm sorry, M-mikoto-san. I d-d-don't know why…why I-I'm cryi-ing…" I tried not to choke on my words. _Am I crying because of Hana? That I'm glad we have something in common, or am I crying for her pain? Or my own?_

"Oh, honey…" Mikoto pulled me into arms and laid my head on her chest, hugging me.

The motherly love I felt from her broke the damn and had me sobbing like a child, the memory of my mother doing this before she changed**(8)** made me cry harder.

"Shh…shh…just let it out, dear. Whatever frustration or pain you feel, just let it out…it's just me here…"

And I did.

I bawled like a baby, pouring all of my pain of Sasuke's leaving; being the weakest, never able to do anything; my regret of hurting Naruto with my fake confession; the awful feeling I felt in the future of Tsunade's chakra – she felt…near death**(9)**; Neji, Shikaku, and Inoichi's death**(10)**; having to put Zabuza and Haku to reset one more time; losing Lady Chiyo the first time…everything.

_If they won't cry, I'll do it for them…someone has to. __**(11)**__ But I also swore to myself I wouldn't cry! Ever again…did crying bring Sasuke-kun back? Did crying stop Naruto's continuously breaking heart? Did crying stop the Invasion of Konoha? It did nothing!_

As if hearing my thoughts. "I know you are a very strong girl, Sakura. I can feel it. But sometimes, it's okay to cry – it doesn't mean you're weak, dear. It means you're human. You don't just have to cry for yourself either – you can cry for your loved ones."

A new flood of tears ripped through my body.

Naruto… and his pain – both of the future and now. Kakashi, through his own loneliness and finding out his best friend was Tobi and it was his own, tragic, actions that supported it…Sai's inability to understand the others around him but trying so hard to… Sasuke. _Young, broken, Sasuke. _

In that case…I'll cry for them. They will never allow themselves to cry, so I will for them…

I felt a distinctive bond being formed with Mikoto right at that moment.

* * *

**Normal POV**

After Sakura had exhausted her tears, she sat quietly with Mikoto, looking through more pictures of the childhood of the family.

Though Mikoto wasn't entirely sure of the reason of Sakura's emotional breakdown, she knew not to ask. At least, not anytime soon.

_That child…she's been through more…knows more than what meets the eye. Poor girl, to have been through so much so young… she's so mature…_, the woman thought.

"I'm home, Kaa-chan!" A male voice called from the door after it was thrown open.

For a moment, Sakura flinched, but then realized the voice couldn't have possibly belonged to Sasuke. _I'm safe_, she thought.

Then, the man was close to Sakura, standing in front of her, studying her. _What is he doing?_

Before she could impulsively push him away, however, he stepped back from her and hugged and kissed the cheek of the woman next to her, saying, "Hey Kaa-chan! How've ya' been today?"

Sakura then, without him crowding her personal space bubble, recognized the man from the pictures they were just looking through. _That's right…she's not really his mother, but she raised him as her own…_

"I'm great, Shisui. How about you? How was your 'bonding' session with you, Mura, and her protective older brother?" Mikoto had a teasing tone in her voice.

Unlike Itachi and similar to Sasuke, Shisui's spikey hair wasn't jet black – it was a black with a… lighter black tint? Maybe an even darker blue than Sasuke's, but not jet black like Itachi.

However, similar to Itachi, Shisui also has tear-troughs though much smaller than Itachi's.**(12)** Considerably smaller. About an inch long, if not two.

The nineteen year old plopped down on the other side of Mikoto, taking the photo album from her lap. "Great, actually. Though I still have to say that Makoto – Mura's bro – is still fuc- uh, I mean fudging scary after all these years when he wants to be. You'd think after almost four years of dating and even longer of being friends he'd lighten up a bit…but he loves Mura so I get it, I guess. She's his only sister, after all."

"Mm-hmm! I'm sure, soon, you two will be joking over illegal alcohol, best friends!"

Shisui sputtered. "M-mom! You knew about that?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes. Sakura giggled, unable to help herself. "Of course I did. Why wouldn't I know when the boy I raised goes out drinking before he's legal? Wait – don't answer that. But I'm glad Lord Hokage is lowering the drinking age soon to 18 and not 21 due to, well… you'd think 18 year old Jounins/Chunins would be mature enough to drink a bit, right? But it hasn't passed yet so you're not legal, dear!"

Shisui pouted. "Well, phooey." He leaned over the couch to look at the pink haired girl he'd observed before. "So who're you?"

Mikoto muttered something about boys and manners before she introduced the young girl. "This, Shisui, is Sasuke-kun's teammate, Haruno Sakura. Sakura, this is my nephew, Shisui."

The two shook hands. "I've heard quite a bit about you, Shisui-san."

The boy-man beamed. "Have you now? Were you told of my awesome ninja skills, or my ANBU ranking, or about my unable-to-be-matched Sharingan?"

Sakura giggled. "Yes, as well as mutterings of annoyance from Sasuke-kun, and some very…interesting stories from both Naruto and Mikoto-san."

"Damn that little bas- bass fish. Wait… '-kun'? Are you Sasuke's girlfriend or something? You're obviously not a fangirl since you're not drooling over my dashing good looks. As well that Mother even let you in the house."

"E-eh? G-girlfriend? No! I mean-… no! I used to be a fangirl, but not anymore. And um… 'bass fish'? Bad save." My face burned.

**_Sasuke's girlfriend? Something tells me this guy's just too eager for his younger cousin to get a girl… because, if you think about it, the likelihood of Sasuke getting a girlfriend anytime soon is none. Not even _**slim**_ to none. None._**

"I'm going to ignore that last part, but you're not his girlfriend? Oh well, then. He could use a girl to get that stick that shoved so highly up his a- butt." **_Called it!_**

Sakura, this time, laughed.

Shisui turned to his "Mother". "I like this girl, Kaa-chan."

"I do too, dear."

Shisui turned back to the younger teenager. "So whatcha' ya' doin' here, Kitten?"

"Kitten…?"

Mikoto whispered into Sakura's ear. "Shisui has a habit of calling girls younger than him that."

Sakura nodded. "I'm planning a surprise birthday for Sasuke-kun with Mikoto-san here."

"Ooohhh," Shisui said, nodding in understanding.

"Is it going well?"

"Yes. Do you want to join in the planning?"

"I'd say yes, but I'll leave the party-planning to you guys. I suck at stuff like that. But if you need me to do something, I'm your man." Shisui shrugged in his response.

Sakura beamed. "Really? Thank you!"

Shisui nodded. "'Welcome. However, if you're here in secret, I'd suggest you get going 'cause Sasuke's going to be here in, like, 2 minutes."

Sakura jumped up. "Oh! Thanks so much!"

The girl quickly got her things, hugged Mikoto, –while muttering a sincere "thank you" in her ear– bowed a goodbye to Shisui, and headed to the door.

However, before she could pass the threshold, she was pulled back and engulfed in another, tight, hug.

Mikoto whispered in her ear, "If you ever need me, or just someone, I'll be here, honey."

Sakura nodded in the hug, embracing the woman back.

Finally, as they pulled back, Mikoto whispered one last time to Sakura, "Take care of my son; continue to care for him."

The pink-haired girl stopped in her tracks for a moment, flushing, then sprinted off, remembering she had to leave before the aforementioned son arrived at the house, but nodded distinctly (in response to Mikoto) before she was out of sight.

Mikoto and Shisui sat back at the couch. "She likes him Mother?"

Mikoto nodded. "Her feelings for him are very strong, though I can't tell how strong."

"And Sasuke?"

"I'm not sure if he feels anything for her yet, Shisui. It's a bit early, I think. But I do know that she's good for him. _Very_ good."

Shisui nodded, ingesting this while looking out the window at the setting sun.

The front door opened, and the very boy they were talking about walked through.

"Kaa-san, Shisui, I'm staying over for the night. Naruto kept me busy all day training and 'accidentally' broke a wall in my apartment, so the landlord told me to find some other place to live while it's repaired."

"Okay, welcome home, dear."

"Hey, Sasuke."

Sasuke walked over to two to hug his mother and fist-bumped his cousin.

As he walked past it, Sasuke smelled a familiar, sweet, but subtle scent from the couch.

"Come down for dinner after you shower, Sasuke. You stink. Your room still has everything you need in it." The woman stood up and left the room, saying behind her, "I'll call the bank for a withdrawal to pay for the wall, 'kay honey?"

"Yeah, you really do, Sasuke. You'll never get any girls smelling like that!" A kunai was thrown in his direction. Unfortunately, (for Sasuke) it was caught.

As the boy headed to his room, he couldn't help but let his thoughts remain on earlier. _Cherry blossoms? Neither Mother, Mura, nor…Hana wear that kind of perfume. Shisui wouldn't be caught dead wearing such girly cologne. But I know I've smelled it before…but where?_

Sasuke sighed. _But first, I better find something to do about my apartment…I know Mom can pay for it but still… I hate having her do stuff like this._

His stomach grumbled. _Nevermind. My first priority is eating after my shower._

It grumbled again. _Shut up, you!_

* * *

**(1): **"Hai" = "Yes" in Japanese, if you didn't know.**  
(2): **Why "secretly"? Sasuke's Tsundere. That's why.**  
(3): **In flashbacks, Sasuke is sometimes seen playing with a green, dinosaur, stuffed animal. That's the one.**  
(4): **Seriously. I drink it. And it's REALLY good. I forgot what company usually makes it, but it's really good. My favorite is the apple cider one.**  
(5): **"Murasaki" is "purple" in Japanese. Her last name was random. I just wanted a new hair color that didn't seem overused to be Shisui's girlfriend. It's unfortunate that it's the same color as Ami's, but still. Yeah. I didn't want it bright like green or something.**  
(6): **You guys know how everything in the past they traveled to is a year after everything happened the first time? Like everyone's a year older, they graduated the academy a year later, etc? That's it says they graduate later. A year later than they did in the original series. I hope this helps dissolve any confusion.**  
(7): **His revenge IS love-based - love for his family. It was twisted darkly and shit, but there's still love. Hashirama proved it. The Uchihas have a love curse. Really.**  
(8): **Remember how when Sakura and Hinata moved, Sakura's mother was a bitch? Sakura's mother wasn't always like that. That's what she means.**  
(9): **We haven't seen Tsunade in like 100 chapters, but... SPOILER: She has to be dead or dying by now. Last we saw her, her torso and legs were split apart by a tree and she decided to use the last of her chakra to heal the other Kage. Unless Hashirama does something, though he doesn't know medical ninjutsu, she's gonna die. Totally.**  
(10): **Yup. They died, if you didn't already know. Everyone that was in the HQ is dead, plus Neji. I believe I already went over this.**  
(11): **There was a line in an anime where a girl, a protagonists, said and was crying while she did, that she'd cry for her friends (mostly guys) since she knows they won't for themselves. I don't think it was Sakura... if Kishimoto gave her such a good line, I would've known. It may have been Lucy from Fairy Tail, but I think I heard it before FT existed. Maybe Nami from One Piece... but probably not. That doesn't fit. Ai from Law of Ueki? No... Elie from Rave Master? If anyone knows, please tell me. It's killing me.**  
(12): **I checked out his profile pic, and noticed that. (The lines on Itachi's face are called tear troughs) Shisui's hair isn't totally black, but black w/ a gray tint, like I described. His birthday's not listed either, by the way. Guess he's been dead too long.****

**I may mention Shisui's birthday, though I won't do anything about it. I'll make it August 16th. Why? Itachi and Sasuke were both born in the summer, so I'll have him be a summe rbaby, too. And, Itachi's b-day is the 9th of June, Sasuke's the 23rd of July. If they were in the same month, they'd be exactly 2 weeks apart. In the middle is the 16th. So, August 16th is Shisui's birthday. Excuse my odd logic if you wish.**

**QotW: **_Favorite shoujo anime or manga? Name, at most, 3._

**Love you all!**

_**ATTENTION!**__**:**_

_I will have to update early the week of the 26th because I have a school trip on Thursday to Saturday, if I remember right. So the chapter will either come early or **not at all**, okay? Just warning you!_

__I still want ideas for Sakura and Kakashi's presents, okay?

**Love,**

**Cherry.**

**PS: Don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Beginnings of Love

**Sunday, June 2nd, 2013.**

**I just updated DoOver. Now I'm updating this.**

**Since I screwed up the schedule, I'm updating next week, too, which is the scheduled update.**

**I'm tired, so the **Anime/Manga Recommendations **and**Book Recommendations **are gonna be skipped. Sorry.**

**Fun Fact About Me: **_I hate social gatherings, for the most part. Like the one my mom arranged yesterday to celebrate my twin sis and I graduating middle school. Biggest pro: I got a lot of money._

**Answer to last QotW: **_I haven't quite decided my favorite, but they'd be among these: Kamisama Hajimemashite (the anime's Kamisama Kiss, 13 eps), Kaichou wa Maid-sama, and maybe Pureblood Boyfriend. They're awesome. _

**Disclaimer:** I don't own shit, okay? A lot of bands and songs will be mentioned in this chapter... I don't own them either.

**All NejiTen. It's about time - they're the second major couple here, and not on purpose. I guess I'm just craving for NejiTen.**

**It's a flashback about Neji's birthday a week before the last chapter. The "present day" for him, is June 10th in this chapter. The last chapter took place on June 16th.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Beginnings of Love. For Him, At Least.

* * *

**Neji POV, June 10th.**

_There's no training today… Lee's on a mission with Gai-sensei and Tenten said she had something to do, since today was our day off. I wonder what it is?_

I blushed at the thought of my teammate. _What's wrong with me? It's just a kiss. That's all._

Yesterday was my 15th birthday. It was a very memorable birthday – not quite like the others.

Since then, I've been feeling oddly, and realizing, that maybe, Tenten and I were closer than I thought.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

* * *

_"Thank you, Lee, really," I said, trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. _It was just my birthday… no need to have an aneurysm for not being here for it.

_"Bye, Lee!" Tenten called out to him, waving as he walked away._

_Like I said, today was my birthday, and the team decided to surprise me by eating lunch –after training vigorously with each other, of course– at a local restaurant that I must say I greatly enjoy._

_Afterward, Lee and Gai-sensei had given me my birthday present, crying to me that the two of them must go on a mission and wouldn't be back for about 2 days._

_Since the two of them know I'm not a material-based person, and since I'm from a rich clan there'd be no point on simply giving me money, they, together, gave me a new, large set of kunai and shuriken. They were a quality brand that I used often, and the gift was well-timed because my current set was dulling and chipping._

_"So," Tenten chirped, beside me. "To my place, then?"_

_I nodded, and she led the way that I knew very well._

_On our birthdays, we often spent the day at someone's apartment –meaning Lee's or Tenten's, since I live at the Manor– and just hung out. Since Lee was gone, it was just the two of us this time._

_My heart skipped a beat at the thought. _But why? We're alone all the time. What makes this any different?

_As we walked, I thought about the past few months, and the slight change of behavior I saw in my friend._

_She was more open, I thought, and kinder to Lee, more defensive of him. Before, when I simply spoke the facts (or as Tenten said, "brought him down") and told him how much of a failure he is, Tenten, would merely sigh and tell Lee to give up. Now, she supported him and very openly._

_I was a bit irked that he took his side, which makes no sense – there aren't any "sides" and _**why**_ should I be bothered by such a thing?_

_Also, she made more of an effort to get closer to me. I may just be imagining it, though – she's always been like that. And we've always been friends, but around 12 years old, we drifted somewhat. But now, we're as close, if not closer, than we were before that drift._

_I can't say I hate our closeness. In fact, I _**might**_ enjoy it. _It's… pleasant, in a way. To have someone to be close to like her, differently than Lee.

_She also looked at me a bit differently, with more warmth and mirth than usual. I knew she had a crush on me when we were what, 11? 10? But I thought that had gone away. _

_Now, I don't know if what I'm seeing is a crush, or simple love for a friend._

_I _**do**_ care for her as a friend, though, don't think otherwise. I'm not heartless._

_But something _is_ wrong with my heart, though._

_It beats quickly when she nears me, or when we're alone. It skips when I think of her sometimes. I blush (unnoticeably) during those times, too, though rarely. _

_Also, I nearly had a heart-attack on the last mission we had, when she woke us up screaming and crying from a nightmare she had, where I had died. _It _did_ show the team that Tenten cares for us, quite strongly. It makes sense with how long we've known each other. Since we were maybe 5 or 6.

_"Hey, Neji-kun!" Tenten's voice jarred me out of my muses._

_"You coming in?" She asked._

_"Oh." I said intelligently. Not. "Of course."_

_I walked in as she closed the door, and placed Lee and Gai-sensei's present for me on the table._

_"Come on," she said, pulling my hand. "You need to take a shower and get dressed."_

_I was confused. "What for?"_

_She grinned and picked two things up from her bedside table (we were in her room by now). "We have tickets to a concert."_

_I walked closer and my eyes widened. "Not just any concert…"_

_"It's the summer Warp Tour!__**(1)**__" _

_I was excited – very. I took a ticket from Tenten's hands. _

Falling in Reverse, Escape the Fate, Mayday Parade, Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Sublime**(2)**… all my favorite bands… wait a minute. My Chemical Romance?

_"MCR is in the Warp Tour this year?" I asked Tenten._

_She nodded. "Yeah. They're debuting a new album or something__**(3)**__. I'm excited!_

_She took the ticket from my hand and replaced it with a bundle of clothes._

_"Here! Take this, and take a shower, would you? You stink!" She pushed me into her bathroom, closing the door behind me._

_"And hurry up! I want to take one, too!"_

_I looked at the bundle, realizing they were my clothes._

_That wasn't what was surprising – Lee and I are over here often, some of our clothes were bound to be here. _

_What __**was**__ surprising was that it was a matching-ish (as much as a guy's could get) outfit. A nice one, actually. Casual._

_"Where'd you get these?" I called over the water (I turned it on to let it heat up before I got in), referring to the clothes._

_"Ko-san." _

So this was planned. Well, I'm not going to get too into this. It's my birthday – time to relax and have fun for once. Enjoy the concert.

_I stripped down and stepped into the shower._

* * *

_"That food was great. What an awesome way to end such an epic concert!" Tenten cheered as we walked from the concert and into her apartment._

_"It was, indeed." I stood up and collected mine and Tenten's food cartons that were used to hold the Chinese food that we ordered from our favorite restaurant and threw them away in the kitchen. Because of the occasion, we decided to reward ourselves and pig out. _

_I don't regret it. _

_After I sat back down, I looked at our autographed CDs, which we had put into two separate piles next to the couch, to differentiate whose was whose._

_That's right – autographed. Turns out with our tickets –which were nicely placed, actually, with a good view of the stage and comfortably away from the mosh pits– came with backstage passes, and we got to meet the bands and have their new albums all signed and autographed by them, as well as posters and all that jazz. We got T-shirts for a cheap price, too._

_And even better, my favorite song was played – "Reverse this Curse" by Escape the Fate.__**(4)**__ Though at the time this song came out, Ronnie Radke was still the frontman. Now, Craig Mabbitt is while Ronnie's the frontman of Falling in Reverse. However, for this specific song, Craig let Ronnie to sing it, like the original._

_It. Was. Amazing. Best day ever. Honest. And enjoy the "Happy Neji" while you can – this doesn't happen often._

_Also, Tenten discovered her new favorite song; though her old one was played, too, "Young" by Hollywood Undead . The new song is "The Light Behind Your Eyes" by My Chemical Romance. It's a song on the brand-new album._

_The only downside to the concert is that it's MCR's last tour – after Warp Tour, MCR's breaking up. That's it. After 12 years, MCR's breaking up._

_That was kinda hard to take in, I'll admit. Tenten nearly shed tears – we are very proud Killjoys.__**(5)**_

_Though the reality of the band breaking up hasn't quite hit us yet, I know it will soon enough._

_But – that didn't stop me from asking the question that's been nagging my head for hours. "How did you get these tickets, Tenten?"_

_She turned to me, yawning. "Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan, and Ko-san did most of the work. I just told them what concert. It's their present to you."_

_"Hn." The thought of them doing something like this made me slightly angry, but that was mostly out of my resentment for Hinata and my partial resentment for Hanabi. (I have nothing against Ko – I just don't like how he adores Hinata-sama so much.) But, it quelled slightly when I realized what they did was amazing. _Maybe including the fact that they care isn't **so **bad.

_"What's your present for me?" I asked, yawning. _

_Hey – it was 10:30 in the evening, we just had a huge dinner, and were at a huge rock-… punk? No… scene-ish? I guess… concert a while ago. We're tired._

_"This way." I followed her to her bedroom, turning off all the other lights along the way._

_My face warmed. _So what? I would have slept in there anyway, if not on the couch. What's wrong with me?

_I closed and locked (when Tenten sleeps, she always locks it) the bedroom door after we both entered, and she looked for something in her drawer._

_"Tenten, do I have any pajama pants here?" _

_"Yeah," Tenten answered, still searching. "Check the far right of my closet. That's where I keep all your guys' clothes."_

_"Alright." I answered, looking for them._

_Five moments later I was changed and sitting on the bed, only in boxers, pajama pants, and bandages to cover my forehead._

_I didn't feel like wearing a shirt – I was warm enough and it's nothing Tenten hasn't seen before. _Maybe we are closer than we seem.

_"Found it!" Tenten said, jumping and up turning toward me. But when she saw me, she jumped, and her face pinked._

_I rose a brow. _**She kinda looks cute like that, her face pink and all.**

_I tried to stay calm, asking Tenten what was wrong. _What's that voice in my head?!

_"N-nothing." She took a breath. _**Aw, damn! It's gone!**

Who are you?

_"A-aren't you going to put on a shirt?"_

_"Do you have a problem if I don't?"_

**I'm you. Your Inner. I am all your inner thoughts and desires that you won't admit all rolled into one. That's the reason behind the name.**

You're… me?

_"N-no. Nevermind. But I found it."_

**Isn't that basically what I said? Now shut up – she's talking to you.**

_"What is it?"_

_Tenten sat next to me on the bed, placing a simple, long, thin, tan jewelry case between us. _

_I gave her a look. _Really, Ten?

_She rolled her eyes. "Just open it, would you?"_

_I opened it._

_Inside were two silver-chained necklaces, each with a dog tag pendant._

_"One for you, one for me." She said, smiling._

_I picked on up._

_On one side, was my name in kanji.**(6)** I could tell it was carved, rather than imprinted, though carved well._

_On the other side was a carving of a dove in flight in the sky. This entire side of the pendant was a portrait._

_Somehow, the dove and the sky itself was colored as well, and you could see the green of what was to be the grass at the bottom, and the blue of the sky for most of the area of the pendant. _It represented freedom…

_The dove was one of my favorite birds, representing freedom (as well as peace). The eagle was another of my favorite birds, as it also represented freedom, but as well as strength and majesty._

_But doves related more to my "Caged Bird" feelings, and Tenten knew that._

She really wanted this to mean something to me… thank you Tenten.

_I picked up the other necklace, which was obviously Tenten's._

_On one side was her name in kanji as well, but on the other was a picture of a 2 (twin) dragons surrounding a panda. Above the panda was a dove._

_That threw me off._

Why…

_I took another look at _my_ dog tag. _There!

_Behind the dove, though I didn't notice it before, was a panda on the ground._

_I turned to my friend. "Thank you, Tenten. Honestly, this is…"_

_I trailed off, not sure how to express my gratitude. _**This is the best present we've ever gotten. The concert's a close second.**

_I was too grateful to question my "Inner's" presence._

_She smiled, hugging me tightly. "Only the best for my best friend."_

_I hugged her back._

_A couple moments later, Tenten was changed (into pajama shorts and a tank top) and the two of us were in bed, turning the bedside lamp off._

_Before I was ready to sleep, I however, I voiced a question. "How'd you make it?" _

_I turned toward Tenten._

_She answered, looking directly into my eyes. I almost found myself falling into her almond ones. _What the hell is **wrong** with me?!

_"Remember when you helped me get the blacksmith to allow me to be his part-time apprentice for my birthday?"_

_I nodded. I did that this year, in March. I'd never seen her so happy._

_"Yeah, well, his senior apprentice, Ryo-kun," the suffix irked me. I don't understand why, "was talented with the very intricate and delicate stuff like carving designs into metal and jewelry. I asked him to help me make your present. As you can see, it turned out great."_

_"What'd you do in return for him? This was obviously a huge favor." I replied._

_She nodded. "At first, being the humble guy he is, refused and said stuff like, 'you're my friend, this is what friends do' and all that shiz. But, when I offered to help him on a date with his long-time-love-who-happens-to-be-his-childhood-fri end, he couldn't refuse."_

_Tenten giggled. _**How cute…**

_"For a 17-year-old, handsome, blacksmith, he is definitely nicer and softer than he may seem. And he reminds me of a school girl with a crush whenever we mention her," Tenten muttered._

_"Handsome?" _What the hell, Ten?

_She raised a brow. "I said that out loud?"_

_I nodded, scowling._

_"Oh. Well, it's true. I almost drooled when I saw him, and I don't do stuff like that. You know that well."_

_She laughed when my scowl deepened. "I don't understand what you're so mad about – we're just friends and I don't like him like that. Sheesh, Neji-kun."_

_I was surprised. "You don't like him?" _I would've thought… she's been acting differently, and when she mentioned how handsome this **_Ryo_** is I thought she had a crush on him.

_"No! I don't! At. All."_

_"Do you like anyone? Wanna go out with anyone?"_

_"Even if I did, I have you guys."_

_"…huh?" She sighed and scooted closer to me. _What's the supposed to mean? Girls...

_"I don't need silly crushes when I have you boys in my life. That's all I need right now."_

_"But as a teenage girl, don't you-"_

_"You're a teenage **boy,** Neji, and I don't see you trying to sneak a grope or two on the scarcely dressed teen girl that you're alone in an apartment with. In bed. In the dark. Don't start on me on acting like a normal teen."_

_My face reddened._

_She giggled. "You're cute when you blush."_

_Of course, that made me redden more, and I scowled at being called "cute". She poked my cheek._

_"Now sleep, Mr. Grouchy-Pants."_

_I rolled my eyes, closed them, and soon, I was asleep._

* * *

_"AAHHH! Please! Please, no! STOP!" I was awoken by Tenten's screams._

_"Wake up, Tenten, wake up!" I shook her, trying to wake her._

_She clawed at me with her nails, and kicked, leaving me to have to straddle her waist and trap her legs lest she end up kicking me off the bed or beating me up in her sleep. And kick me in a place that is very important to men._

_After more shaking and shouting, I finally woke her._

_"D-did I have… th-that dream, ag-gain?" She asked, tears in her eyes._

_"Yes…" I said quietly, wiping away her tears. It was the dream where I had died._

_I looked toward the clock. It said 11:40._

She had the nightmare that fast… we'd barely been asleep for an hour!

_"Describe it to me," I said. "The nightmare." Before, she'd usually refuse profusely, and I let it go. But this time, she started to._

_Now that she wasn't violent anymore, I slid off of her and beside her, pressing her tight against me as she cried, describing her nightmare to me through her sobs and sniffles. _

_"… A-a-and th-then, the n-next thing I kn-know, you're on the ground, bleeding out! And for some reason, I wouldn't cry! I-I d-dunn-n-no if it's b-because I c-couldn't, or w-what! Aren't I t-t-terrible?" She finished, sobbing._

_So what I was able to gather: _I was protecting someone, or some _people,_ jumped in the way, and was impaled in a couple places in my torso and through my back. They were large, and I bled out. Ouch.

_"No, you're not," I whispered._

_When she calmed completely. I looked to the clock again. 11:52._

_When I turned back, I found Tenten looking at me._

_"What is it?" I whispered._

_"Thanks." She said. "For… you know…"_

_It wasn't often that she cried, but when she did, she didn't like to speak of it much afterward. I think she thought it showed weakness, as a result of being around me so much, since I believe it does. _I **do** believe it does… but sometimes, I think… I guess, it's okay to cry. Just sometimes.

_I nodded. But for some reason, I could turn away from her large, brown eyes._

_I kept "getting lost" in them._

_She seemed to have the same problem with mine, because neither of us noticed we were drifting closer together until I felt her breathing on my lips._

_I also discovered that my arms were wound tightly against her, pushing her as close to me as possible. Her arms were around my neck, and our legs were tangled together, comfortable._

_She blushed when she discovered our position, but made no move to change it._

_"Do you…" she whispered, her eyes closing. _"Do you want to..."_, I continued in my head._

_I nodded. "Yeah…"_

_I closed my eyes and erased the gap between our lips. _

_The feeling was amazing. My head felt tingly, as if fireworks were going off in the background. And her lips were warm and soft._

_I'm not sure how to explain how it felt to kiss her more than already I did – it was kind of indescribable and even if I knew words to describe it better, my brain's kind of mush right now. Sorry. _Please come by later.

_And don't get me started on how good her hands felt in my hair, as I held her head closer to mine, my hand in her long, soft, hair._

_When we pulled away, we were panting. _

_I gazed into her eyes more, and found something very warm in them, but it wasn't a normal kind of warmth… _Does she like me?

_My heart, which stopped, then thundered during our kiss, skipped a beat. _Could I have feelings for her?

_She smiled. My heart sped up again, and my face warmed._

_She kissed my cheek. "Goodnight Neji-kun, and happy birthday."_

_With that, she adjusted herself so she'd be more comfortable, and promptly fell asleep._

….What just happened?

**We'll go over this later. Now sleep.**

_I looked toward the clock again. 11:59._

_I shifted so I'd be more comfortable, hesitating to place Tenten's head under my chin, though the problem was solved when she did it herself and made herself comfortable against my bare chest in her sleep._

_As the clock shifted from 11:59 to 12:00, I thought, _This was the best birthday I had ever had_, smiling for once as I fell asleep, against the rhythm of the breathing of my best-friend-who-may-just-be-more-than-that._

_It was the best sleep I'd had as long as I could remember._

* * *

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

**_Dude, admit it. We're growing something for her._**

_Maybe you're right…_

**_Le gasp! You're admitting it?!_**

_Isn't that what you want?_

I sighed. _Besides, let's face it – I already care about her a lot as a friend, we've always been close, we're teenagers now, I'll admit she's quite pretty, and we kissed last night. It should be no surprise that I'm starting to like her._

**_You already started._**

_Oh. Right. I already started some time back but am realizing now. There._

**_So what are you going to do about it?_**

_Nothing._

**WHAT?!**

_I'm not going to ruin our friendship for something like a tiny crush, which is all this is right now._

**_B-but-… it could grow into more! And it's NOT tiny now, Mr. Denial-Isn't-Just-a-River-In-Egypt!_**

_We'll have this conversation again when that happens. Now bye._

**_Ugh… fine._**

I stood up and got my laptop from its desk at the corner of the room, placing it on my lap and turning it on.

_Well… I guess I could catch up on some anime. Tenten told me to read then watch something called… "Angel Beats"?__**(7) **__I should also catch up with One Piece and Bleach…_

* * *

**(1): The Warp Tour is an actual rock/scene/punk/whatever tour that has multiple bands of those genre in it. I've never been to one, but my friends have. I've actually never been to a concert before, so the description of the concert is probably inaccurate.  
(2): Most of these are my favorite bands... I haven't listened to Sublime before, though.  
(3): It was MCR's final one, "Conventional Weapons".  
(4): That's a legit song, I swear. Pretty appropriate for Neji, huh? It's a pretty cool song. And that stuff about the frontmen are true.  
(5): Killjoys are MCR fans. They're also called members of the "MCRmy" and stuff like that. I'm a proud one, too.  
(6): The most common of the 3 Japanese writing style. Another is "hiragana", which is considered the easiest.  
(7): Angel Beats is amazing, and WILL make you cry. It's not ONLY sad, and the ending isn't a bad sad one, sorry to spoil it for you. Well, it is in a way, but also isn't. Just read it first, then watch it. The manga is what happens before the anime.**

**Yeah... NejiTen.**

**Question of the Week: **_Anything planned for the summer?_

YOU CAN STILL VOTE FOR PRESENTS TO SASUKE FROM SAKURA AND KAKASHI!

**Read, review, and Recycle! The 3 R's!**

**Love,**

**Cherry.**


	13. Chapter 13: Old & New Friends

**Sunday, June 9th, 2013.**

**Hey guys!**

**Today is an important day! **

**Yesterday was Moegi's birthday, and the 11's Kurenai's!**

**But even better? Today is **Itachi's**, the **Kurusu Twins'** (from Uta no Prince-sama), the **Hitachiin Twins'** (OHSHC), & **Mukuro's** (KHR), birthdays!**

**I haven't seen Uta no Prince-sama, but I know that it's real popular, so I added it.**

**But the Hitachiin Twins, Mukuro, and Itachi are my favorite characters from their respective anime. Not to mention, Itachi and Mukuro are sexy beasts - hotter than the Hitachiin twins. WAY hotter. I knew Itachi's birthday was today, but I was surprised by the others.**

**Guess who else's birthday is today?**

**Miyano Mamoru's! (first-last name)**

**Who?**

**Light Yagami's, DTK's, Tamaki's, Setsuna's, Masaomi's, Tokiya's, Zero's & Ichiru's, Takuto's, Rintarou's, Ling's, & Hisashi's JAPANESE voice actor.**

**(From Death Note, Soul Eater, OHSHC, Gundam 00, Durarara!, Uta no Prince-sama, Vampire Knight, Star Driver, Steins;Gate, FMAB, and HotD respectively).**

**That's right. They're all played by the same guy. (I got the more famous ones and the ones I knew)**

**What I find funny as well is that Tamaki and Zero, have the same English VA (Vic Mignogna); and Ling and Kid have the same English VA (Todd Haberkorn). The two VA's are also playful rivals.**

**Wow.**

**Anyhoo's. **

**I realized I was seriously lacking in NaruHina in DoOver, and that I hadn't had much of any here in ReWind, so I decided to make this chapter NaruHina!Development. **

**The next chapter of DoOver may have NaruHina as well, and because of that, also have SasuSaku. I'll tell you that much.**

**If it doesn't turn out to be that way, I'll make up for it with ShikaTema, or even more likely, a lot of NejiTen, because those who read it know it seems almost mostly NejiTen than SasuSaku. XD**

**FYI: I decided to watch a lot of anime this summer, so this week alone I finished 2 short anime and some of their movies: **The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya**, and** Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann**. **

**I hadn't seen them yet, so I did. I loved them. **

**I loved the** _Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya_** movie more than both of the aforementioned anime. I also watched the first Gurren Lagann movie, but because I had trouble finding a place to stream it in sub, I have yet to see the second movie.**_**  
**_

**I plan to eventually buy and read all the Haruhi light novels and manga.**

**Fact about me: Uh... One of my hobbies is reading. Like legit books. There.**

Anime Recommendation ** Lucky*Star. It's a 26-episode school-based comedy. However, it's REALLY funny. The main character, Konata (voiced by the same person as Haruhi Suzumiya in both English AND Japanese; imagine that!) is a very short otaku with 3 other main friends, who are girls. It's not very girly, honestly, like K-On! (not that I'm bashing it or anything, I loved K-On!), and there is little to little romance for guys. But for hopeless romantics, even with the lack of romance, Lucky*Star's worth it. I'd know - nearly anything I read or watch MUST have at LEAST underlying romance, and something has to be good if it has little to none - like One Piece. One Piece is 0.000000001% romance. But it's my favorite anime. **

**Back to Lucky*Star. Another funny character is Konata's pervert of a dad, her police officer cousin, and Konata and her friends' teacher. **

**You'd also like Azumanga Daioh! if you liked Lucky*Star. Check it out!**

**Oh, and if if you've heard, "A flat chest is a status symbol!" around in the anime community, that was Konata. **

**The English dub's not bad, too, so you can watch it in English if you want. I did.**

Book Reccomendation:** Chomp by Carl Hiaason. Hiaason has written some other young adult books, the most famous of which is Hoot which got a Newberry if I remember right. I recently finished chomp, but it was a good realistic fiction like most of his books are. This one was about a family, focusing on the son, Wahoo (he doesn't like the name either), and the father, Mickey Cray that are professional Floridian animal wranglers (Hiaason books usually take place in Florida, since it's his home) and get a deal to work with Derek Badger, a "professional ****survivalist" from the hottest survival show in the us, Expedition Survival (if I remember right), to help pay for their mortgage that the wife of the family went to China (she's an English teacher) to help pay off. However, they know Derek's a fake, but agree to work with him for the pay. For a shoot, they go to the Everglades taking along a classmate of Wahoo's that ran into them at a store one day. They take her along because she's "taking a break" from her abusive, drunker, of a father in their motor home in a WalMart parking lot. Anyway, needless to say, Derek's an arrogant idiot.**

**It's a good book, and Flush is my favorite of Hiaason's book. **

**Answer to last QotW: **_Going anywhere? Not really. Just ComicCon in San Diego in July, and maybe my grandmother in Orange County (also in Cali; my nickname for California if you couldn't figure it out) for a weekend or two. We visit her every year. And my dad can't get off much this summer for his job. we also don't want to go to Kenya this summer because June and July are the coldest months of the year there. So just ComicCon and maybe my grandma (who looks young enough to be my aunt) are all I have planned for locations. Other than that, I plan to watch as much anime as possible, finish the Rave Master manga, finish FMA, start and maybe finish the Fruits Basket and OHSHC manga, etc. That's about all. My parents are determined to keep us busy, though._

Disclaimer: **I obviously don't own Naruto, guys. If I did, there wouldn't be a long filler arc going on. Yeah, the anime might be on the war, but about everything after Gaara's war speech is filler. The only thing canon about it are some of the people who were brought back, how they died, and that's really it after Asuma. Everything else is FILLER. INAPPROPRIATE filler.**

**I better get started on the chapter. This AN and the one at the bottom is about 2k words. The chapter's just over 3k.**

_DON'T FORGET! FUGAKU IS ALIVE! I CHANGED MY MIND! HE WAS JUST ON A BUSINESS TRIP WITH OTHER BIG CLANS JULY 16TH!_

_ALRIGHT? I PUT UP AN A/N BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY SAW IT, SO I'M TELLING YOU NOW!_

* * *

Chapter 13: New Friends & Old Ones

* * *

**Naruto POV**

_Ugh… What the hell am I gonna do?!_

I groaned as I walked around town, frustrated.

_What the hell am I supposed to get Teme for his birthday?_

Last night, Sakura-chan called the team –excluding Sasuke-Teme, of course– to arrive early to this morning's training session so she can tell us about something.

Secretly, and as a joke, I hoped she'd confess her love for me. But of course, that'd never happen, much less in front of the team.

Surprisingly, I think I'm falling out of "like" -I had a crush on her, I wasn't in _love_ with her- with Sakura-chan. I don't like her as much as I used to, and it seems to lessen every day. Romantically, I mean.

_Not to mention, she came to me and told me to give up on my crush on her, because she was worried for me or something. It was kinda weird, but I was touched and gave it a shot. So now, I'm a totally available man! Where are all the ladies?!_

**_Running away from your stupid ass, Kit._**

_Shut up, you jerk!_

Anyway. About the meeting Sakura-chan arranged.

It turns out, with Miko-kaa**(1)**, that she's planning a birthday celebration for Sasuke, that she wanted us to get something for him, keep the celebration a secret until it happens, and all that shiz.

She'll take care of the party planning with Miko-kaa, and the party set-up will be taken care of by them, Hana, Mura-nee, Shisui, and some of us if she needs help. That day, I'll need to distract the Teme away from the Uchiha Compound so they can set up, and then bring him when the party's ready.

My current predicament? _New vocab word! Learned it from Sakura-chan!_

I don't know what to get Sasuke-teme for his birthday. It's in 6 days, I know, but it's better to plan ahead than wait for the last minute. _Word from the wise._

**_You've done that enough times in the academy. And you failed three times in result._**(2)

_I'm gonna ignore you._

Plus, he's my best friend, and I care about him even if I won't admit it. I don't want to get him something lame.

But he's _Sasuke_.

I can't give him money.

Or clothes. God forbid clothes – I'm not his mother.

Or a kunai set – that has no intimate value, and I'm sure somebody else will get him that.

It needs to be something… _special_.

_God, I sound like such a girl._

If only we had this special item from our childhood that brought us together or something cheesy like that… but sadly, this isn't some manga. Especially not a shoujo one. _If it was a manga, shounen of course, it'd be __**so**__ awesome! I'd be the main character! And it'd be called-… "Naruto"! Yeah… that sounds nice..._

**_Pay attention, nitwit. Look over there – isn't that the Hyuuga girl? Maybe she can help you._**

_Eh?_

I looked toward the direction my Bijuu (learned the term from Kakashi-sensei) was talking about and saw Hinata walking in the same direction I was – subconsciously to Ichiraku's. _So what? I'm hungry… it's like, noon, and I just came back from training with the team._

"Hey! Hinata-chan!" I yelled, trying to get her attention.

She looked startled for a moment, then walked toward me. "Hello, Naruto-kun." She had the cutest, shy, smile on her face.

_I can't believe I've never noticed before but Hinata's actually pretty cute. You know, in a shy-girl sorta way._

My face warmed a bit, but not enough to be visible on my face.

"Wanna eat lunch at Ichiraku's with me?"

She nodded. "I-I'd be d-delighted."

"Then come on! Let's go!"

When we were sat down at the ramen booth, I was about to place my usual order before remembering some manners Miko-kaa tried to teach me.

**_"Tried" is the key word here._**

_Well it obviously worked somewhat!_

**_Whatever._**

I turned to my companion. "What would you like, Hinata-chan?"

"Regular ch-chicken ramen, p-please."

I smiled. "Alright!"

I turned toward the only waitress of the place that had walked up to us. "One regular chicken ramen and a large pork ramen for me, Ayame-nee-chan!**(3)**"

She smiled, writing it down and giving the order to her father, the owner.

Then, she turned back to us. A weird grin was on her face… _Hm…_

"Are you two on a date, Naruto? Hinata's a real cutie and is slowly becoming a regular here**(4)** – good catch, Naruto!"

My face burned. "We're not on a date, Ayame! We're just friends – that's all! We happened to bump into each other earlier so…"

In my peripheral vision, I saw that Hinata's face was even redder than mine.

**_Her face is often red, dumbass. It's no surprise it is now. She obviously embarrassed easily._**

I almost scowled. _Shut up._

Kurama –the name of the Kyuubi, who's inside me– has been talking to me lately. Obviously. Usually he's an evil, malicious, asshole, but he wasn't as malicious as he was before when he tempted me to let him out at the Land of Waves.

He _tries_ to act malicious, but aside from just being an ass, I don't think he's a genuinely bad… _being_.

I dunno what happened, but I'm not complaining. I have to admit, though – it's pretty damn confusing!

But I'm being serious about the faking-about-being-a-jerk-lately-thing – _I think he's just huge, shy, fox with a big heart, is all. The Tsundere type, you know? He secretly cares about me._

When I usually say that, he makes enough of a ruckus to give me a migraine.

I think he decided to ignore me this time.

**_Pay attention, Kit. _**

Or not. He has a habit of calling me "Kit", too. _Is that short for "kitsune"? But I'm not one… or is that the name for fox pups (in Japanese, of course) or something… I dunno. But if it is, why is he calling me that?__**(5)**_

I decided to enter the outside world again, remembering I wasn't alone.

Ayame frowned.

"Oh. Well that sucks. I got my hopes up for nothing… Aw well. Naruto is an idiot – I'd feel sorry for the girl who'd have to deal with him."

At the second part of the response, she was talking to Hinata, pointing toward me at the end.

Hinata giggled, and I felt a bit better about the playful jab Ayame made.

I was still offended, though. "Hey!"

Ayame laughed.

When she calmed, Old Man Teuchi finished cooking the ramen and placed it in front of us.

"Enjoy!"

"Thanks Old Man!" I said, splitting my chopsticks.

"Thank you, Teuchi-san," Hinata said, doing the same.

"Itadakimasu!" We said, before digging in.

* * *

"I think I can help." Hinata said, after I told her my predicament.

We were sitting at a bench in town, after leaving Ichiraku Ramen.

I paid, by the way. Hinata was a bit stubborn at first, but I convinced her and quickly placed the money on the table or both our meals before she could, just to be safe.

_I could be polite! I've also been saving money from all the missions we've been doing!_

"Really?" I beamed.

She nodded.

"Come on."

She stood up, hesitantly taking my wrist after –as I was able to notice– debating whether or not to take my hand, pulling me with her into the suburban shopping district of Konoha, where some of the older shops were.

"Where are we going?" I asked, ignoring the oddly-pleasant-tingly/burning-sensation where Hinata was holding my left wrist.

"M-my friend gave her teammate –who's my c-cousin– a present s-she m-made while working in the smithy I'm t-taking you t-to. Maybe she can h-help you make s-something or help you d-develop an idea for y-your present for Sasuke-san."

"Ohhh…" I said, nodding in understanding. "Thanks, Hinata-chan."

"Y-your welcome."

_Hm… that's a good idea… maybe some kind of custom weapon for him or something… Wait a minute! "Sasuke-_**san**_"? Did she always call him that?__**(6)**_

**_Try to remember properly, idiot. She was the only girl in the class you never had a crush on the Uchiha, remember?_**

I noticed he rarely called Sasuke by his name, and he had a touch of malice or hatred whenever he said the word, "Uchiha".

_Do you hate Uchihas or something?_

**_Even if I did, it's none of your business. Did you hear what I said?_**

_Of course I did! And you're right… now that I think about it, she never went fangirl for Sasuke or anything. She seemed pretty uninterested. And she and the Teme hardly know each other – they never bothered to get close. So "-san" sounds right. I can't believe I forgot._

**_You were too busy competing with the Uchiha, ditching with those Akimichi, Nara, and Inuzuka kids, _**_(7) __**and making a fool out of yourself over the Haruno to pay attention to the Hyuuga girl. Oh, and failing the class while pissing Umino off.**_

_…Shut up._

But he was right. Out of all the at least half-way decent kids in our class, I knew Hinata the least! About as well as I know Shino – but he creeps me out so I won't bother with him.

Besides, she's in the Rookie Nine, too, or whatever Iruka-sensei called us a while back, after we graduated. _Shino is, too, but we already explained that._

_This is the perfect opportunity to get to know her better! I really should, though. She seems like a nice girl._

"W-we're here, Naruto-kun." I snapped out of my thoughts and found myself standing in front of the smithy.

I flashed a grin to the girl beside me. "Thanks, Hinata-chan!"

She looked away blushing. "Y-y-your w-welcome."

My cheeks warmed. _She's kinda cute when she blushes._

I shook my head inwardly. _Get a grip man! We need to think of a present for Sasuke!_

We walked in, just in time for a bun-headed girl in a black tank top, camouflage cargo-like pants, heavy-looking black shoes, and covered in soot, to pass by.

But she was a **_familiar_** bun-headed girl. _No... it can't be…_

"**Tenten**!" Hinata and I said in unison.

"You know her?" We said simultaneously.

After a moment of confusion, I had Hinata go first.

"She's teammates and best friends with my cousin – the girl I told you about. Since she grew up with my cousin with their other teammate, I got to know them both pretty well. What about you?"

Tenten answered for me.

"We knew each other in the orphanage, before I moved out and before he was kicked out. We got to know each other pretty well. But we haven't talked in forever."

She came over and ruffled my hair, causing me to scowl. She was taller than me, too, which deepened my scowl. "Hey! You're getting soot in my hair…"

She laughed. "Don't be such a girl. And longtime no see, Naruto."

I smiled. "Longtime no see, Ten."

She looked at the both of us. "I'd hug you both now, but I don't want to get you both covered in soot, especially Hinata. And by the way – why are you two here?"

_Well, you already dirtied my gorgeous, gold-yellow hair, so hugging me wouldn't be much worse. Clothes are easier to wash. But I guess I wouldn't want to get Hinata dirtied up, either, though.__**(8)**_

"We came looking for you." Hinata said.

"I need an idea for Sasuke's birthday present. The Uchiha kid? Heard of him? I've told you about him when we were in the orphanage, right?**(9)** Anyway, I hear you got your teammate a present, too, so Hinata thought you'd be of help." I said quickly. But she understood me, of course.

"Yeah, I know him. Or _of_ him, to be correct." She pulled some kind of chain from under her tank, and it seemed to be a dog tag.

"I made one of these for him and one for me for his birthday last week. Matching dog tags. Here's mine."

She placed it in my hand.

"Whoa, this is cool!" I said.

It had two dragons twisting around a panda on it, with a dove flying beside them. On the other side was her name in Kanji.

"Tenten? What's up?"

We turned to see a guy walk in this… waiting room or whatever this is with a concerned look on his face.

_Was Tenten dating this guy?_

Now why did I think this?

Even as a fellow guy, I'll admit he was pretty good looking. _I'm not gay or anything… it's an honest observation._

He had blonde hair, not as bright as mine but with more of a golden tint to it, and seemed to have brown roots. Kinda odd. Usually that'd mean he died his hair but it seemed pretty natural.

_Then again, there are people with odd-colored hair (*cough*Sakura*cough*) so I guess I shouldn't be surprised if that's natural._

I thought back to some other blondes I knew that grew up to become a brunette… _Maybe his hair is turning brown? But this is pretty late… he looks a bit older than us._

He also had weird eyes – hazel, I think you'd call them. But I'm not sure… With hazel, the green and brown are mixed together.

His weren't. Not really.

Around his pupil, he had green eyes, close to Sakura-chan's shade, but more of a forest-y color. But somehow, the slid into a dark brown color by the edge of his iris.**(10)** I've seen eyes like that but I still think it's weird. Especially because his eyes were really bright and vivid - you'd be blind to miss them.

He had a mole beneath his left eye, on his cheekbone. He also had earring studs on his ears, something Sakura told me was pretty attractive to many girls. _When I asked if she agreed, she said, "No comment". Damn…_

Finally, he had a slight tan. Just a tiny shade lighter than the color of my skin right now, if not the same. The light may be making him look lighter than he really is.

All in all – this guy was drool-worthy for fan girls. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a fanclub bigger than Sasuke's. He obviously had a nice guy personality – that automatically made the girls that didn't chase after him for his looks flock after him for his personality.

_Sasuke – 1.  
This guy – 2.  
1 point for looks, and another for personality, which Sasuke doesn't have. God, I sound like some kinda-… I dunno!_

Forgive me for the analysis – it's something I've grown a habit of doing ever since I turned nine. I got sick of the fangirls chasing Sasuke so I started analyzing guys that would most likely have fangirls and try to avoid them or something. Of course, I couldn't leave Sasuke – the guy needs me, in that cold, stubborn, heart of his. What will he ever do without me?

Anyway, back to the outside world.

"Oh, Ryo-kun!" She said. _Maybe they are dating… the suffix is "-kun", a familiar suffix.__**(11)**_

"I'm just talking to my friends."

"You two dating?" I blurted.

I quirked an eyebrow over the looks they gave me. _What? It's a legit question._

Which was what I told them.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Tenten said furiously, making an "X" with her arms.

"No way! Me… and Tenten?" Ryo shook his head, as if trying to shake the thought out of his head.

"Ryo and I aren't like that! At all. We're just friends." Tenten said, calming down.

"Honest." Ryo agreed, also calming down.

I shrugged. _'Kay, then. I kinda don't care either way._

"So about my problem…" I said, as Ryo left the waiting room/area/place/whatever the hell this is. The smithy can be entered on the doors on either side of this room, one of which Ryo entered and the other he exited. _I __**was**__ here for a reason after all._

"Did my necklace give you an idea?"

I thought for a second.

"Wait!" I said getting an idea. "Now that you mention it, I am!"

I turned to Hinata, engulfing her in a hug. "Thanks for the idea to come here, Hinata-chan! You just saved my ass!"

I pulled back and gave her a thumbs-up. "I owe 'ya one."

She looked down blushing. "S-s-sure…"

Just then, a really pretty bell sound came from one of her pockets, in her jacket. _…Does she have bells in her jacket or something?_

Then, she pulled out her phone, looking up at us. "That's the sound my phone makes when I get a text. Sorry if it confused you."

_Oh! That makes sense._

She checked the text, then sighed.

"I have to go. See you later, Tenten. See you later, N-naruto-kun."

As she turned to leave, Tenten asked a request of her. "Could you tell Neji-kun I'm free tomorrow and that I said 'hi'?"

"Yes," Hinata said, exiting the smithy.

"Wait!" I called. She stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"Y-yes, Naruto-k-kun?"

"How about some ramen at Ichiraku's tomorrow at 1? I want to get to know you better." I said, flashing one of my signature grins, excited at the possible meeting tomorrow.

"I-I'd love th-that…" Hinata muttered, before hurrying out of the smithy, her face red.

_I wonder why she's always blushing around me…_

I turned to Tenten. "So is this 'Neji-kun' your boyfriend then?"

She hit me on the head, reminding me of Sakura. _Sheesh… what's with women these days!_

"Why would you think that?!" She shouted. "He's just my teammate; Hinata's cousin. You know, the one we mentioned before? The one whose birthday was last week?"

I rubbed my sore head. "Well, you have a '-kun' suffix to his name; you told Hinata-chan to tell him you was free tomorrow; and that you said 'hi'. You're 15, too, so dating isn't unusual. You are 15, right? So what was I supposed to think?!"

She sighed. "I guess that makes sense. By 'free', I meant 'free to train tomorrow'. My teammate's a trainaholic and today was one of our day offs for the week. I just wanted him to know that I wouldn't be busy in the smithy. I've known him for a long time – longer than I've known you! It's no wonder I'd want to say hi. And yeah, I'm 15. March 9th, remember?"

I made an "O" with my mouth to represent my understanding. _Well that makes more sense._

"So you said you came up with a present?"

"Oh, right! Well, I was wondering if you and that Ryo guy could…"

* * *

**(1): **Naruto's been close to Naruto since he was a kid, so it's no wonder that he became so close to Mikoto that he calls her something as intimately informal as "Miko-kaa/Mikoto-kaa-chan/etc".**  
(2): **It's true - Naruto DID fail the academy 3 times. What we saw in the first episodes was the 3rd. Remember he initially failed? So how was he the same age as the rest of his classmates? the Third must have admitted him early, anticipating his failing more than once or something. That's the only logical explanation.  
**(3): **Ayame and Teuchi are some of the few villagers who have seemed to never had animosity for Naruto. So, here, they knew him better, to the point that Naruto referred to them affectionately, like he did Ayame.  
**(4): **I always imagined Hinata going to Ichiraku's once in a while after Naruto had gone. So here, when Hinata came from the future, she made sure to frequent the restaurant.  
**(5): **If I remember right, a "kit" DOES refer to a kitsune, a Japanese, mythical, magical fox of folklore. Kitsune are said to be sneaky spirits, but could grant wishes to people who help them, if I remember right. Some people mistaken Naruto as a kitsune because he has Kurama, a fox spirit, in him. Maybe kitsune could refer to fox-people, too, but I don't think so. Even if that was the case, Naruto is completely human, which many forget, so he still wouldn't be a kitsune. Kurama calls him that out of a weird affection, in the case that kitsune could refer to fox-people, or because Kurama, who DOES care about Naruto, almost thinks of him similar to one of his children. So... yeah... plus it sounds good. So...  
**(6): **"-san" is a polite suffix, used for people you are unfamiliar with, people slightly above you, and even friends if that was what you preferred. Since essentially every girl in Naruto's class other than Hinata, liked Sasuke, chances are, most of them referred to Sasuke as "Sasuke-kun" or even just "Sasuke". Not "Sasuke-san". So Naruto's confusion is well-placed.  
**(7): **Remember in Part 1 where Naruto and some other characters reminisce of the academy days, and Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Naruto hung out, likely skipping? That's what I'm talking about, and they did that here, too.  
**(8): **Completely inspired by **The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya** series. Kyon's narrating will definitely help improve my writing one way or another, and that scene was written with Kyon's narrating in mind. Just picture **Kyon=Naruto**, poor **Mikuru=Hinata**, and **Haruhi=Tenten** in that situation. Can't you picture that? I can, so easily! XD  
**(9): **Remember the scroll chapter? One of the changes in this past was that Tenten and Naruto knew each other growing up in the academy. It's not confirmed that Tenten is an orphan, but it's totally obvious that she is. Not to mention, she lives alone in an apartment with weapons on the wall. (I remember a scene in the anime) **  
(10): **If you look up "green hazel eyes close up" you can see hazel eyes that are brown around the pupil, and green for the rest of the iris. I've met a lot of people with those eyes, too. Ryo's eyes are the opposite, with a more even color balance, and way more vivid. Remember Ryo from the last chapter, the guy Tenten works with in the smithy? That's him. He's a character my sis and I made up, whenever we make up fake Naruto scenarios, almost like verbal fanfiction. His role is to make Neji jealous even though he's in love with another, like mentioned in the last chapter.**  
(11): **"-kun" IS a familiar suffix, and that's often what girls call guys close to them; namely boyfriends or guys they like. That's what NAruto's referring to.

**So as you can see, I didn't make Naruto a total idiot. He IS smart, and can be analytical, and I made sure I got that across - he has a brain. He just doesn't show it.**

_DON'T FORGET! FUGAKU IS ALIVE! I CHANGED MY MIND! HE WAS JUST ON A BUSINESS TRIP WITH OTHER BIG CLANS JULY 16TH!_

_ALRIGHT? I PUT UP AN A/N BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY SAW IT, SO I'M TELLING YOU NOW!_

**QotW: **_Short anime recommendation for me? Under 30 eps and completed, guys! Can you recommend me short, completed, or soon to be completed anime?_

**Love you guys!**

**-Cherry**


	14. Chapter 14: New, Strange Feelings

**Sunday, July 23rd, 2013.**

**Finished Steins;Gate this week. I loved it. (I watched it in sub, btw) **

**I learned J. Michael Tatum dubbed Okabe and saw some Youtube clips of it. JMT, you did fantastic as usual.  
Fave line I heard Daru say in the English dub: [referring to Okabe and Kurisu-_TINA_] "They're the OTP of the fanfic I call my life."**

**Sure, that replaced the "tsundere" line but it was still pretty funny. I dunno if he says tsundere in the English dub in the times Daru called her that in Japanese, but I don't care enough to look right now.**

**Can't wait for the movie to come out in the US... **

**This coming week I'll be more focused on fanfiction and reading manga and shiz instead of watching an anime that week because I'll be busy after like 5pm, (Vacation Bible School for church) and I wanna be ahead in writing chapters. I actually wrote this one last night, and edited it twice today. Not as much as I usually do - I always edit when I update (which is why I take an hour to do so) so that means I only edited it once otherwise.**

**Anime/Manga Recommendation: **"Gakuen Babysitters". It's a shoujo, though with little romance (if something's a shoujo, it just means it's initially target towards girls. It doesn't necessarily mean it has romance) is absolutely loveable. The main characters are a teenager and his toddler little brother who lost their parents recently and are taken in by nice (but tsundere) old lady. I think she runs the school he goes to. To compensate for living in her mansion, the older brother has to volunteer at the school's babysitting club (where he leaves his brother while at school) and the children quickly take a liking to him. He makes friends with the head babysitter (he reminds me of Kakashi for some reason... ), the children, their parents, and close friends with one of the kids' older brother who happens to be his classmate. It's funny, it's cute, shows some kid-logic (because there's a bunch of kids in it) and is all-around loveable. Even guys can easily love this. I love the art, too. It's ongoing, I think it's monthly, and it has 39 chapters so far.

**Book Recommendations: **Cancelled because the chapter today's nearly 5k words, and these authors notes are already long.

**Fun Fact: **I have a twin sister. She's older than me by a minute. She may review as a guest, so if you see "Your Twin" that's her. Probably. Usually. Why else would someone have the username "Your Twin"?

**Answer to last QotW: **_I'm just going to tell you the ones I've seen so far: Psycho-Pass, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Steins;Gate, and the movie "5cm Per Second". Favorite of what I've seen: Psycho-Pass and Steins;Gate._

**Advertisment Section (I'll do that once in a while I guess, to advertise my friend's stuff, or advertise cool artist, anime reviewers, whatever): **My friend's poems on teenink. She's pretty good. She's **yeahthatsme** if I remember right.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto Karin wouldn't be a fangirl again after acknowledging the Sasuke she liked and the Sasuke that nearly killed her were not the same person and giving up on him. Which. Was. Exactly. What. Kishi. Did. She did give up on him! Check out her quotes on her wiki page! Check her wikia in general! See the episode! Read the chapter! WTF Kishi?!

**I originally planned on this being a SaIno chapter, but that part was too short so this is now a SaIno and KibaOC chapter.**

**If you've read DoOver, you know who the OC is already. I won't go into her backstory yet.**

**I think the next chapter will be last party preparations, then the party in the chapter after that, a twist after that, and Karin after that. You'll see. I dunno yet.**

**BTW, please tell me if you liked Kiba's flirting, and if it was well-written.**

Word Count Including ANs: 6.6k+. Dayum.

* * *

Chapter 14: New, Weird, Feelings

* * *

**Sai POV**

_Hm… I wonder…_

"Sai-kun! Sai-kun, over here!" I turned to the direction of the feminine voice, breaking out of my thoughts.

_Oh. It has been a while since I've seen her last._

I walked over to the girl that was waving me over from the entrance of a Korean BBQ.

"Greetings, Beautiful. Was that a suitable salutation?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "'Greetings' is overly formal and outdated, so no. You can just say 'hello' if 'hi' is too much for you, you know."

I thought about it. "Okay… I'll write that down."

I took out my notebook and wrote her words down. _This could come in use to me later._

When I looked back up from the notebook at her, she took my hand and dragged me into the restaurant. "My team was having lunch and I saw you wandering around town from the window and decided to bring you over."

When we reached her teammates' table, she ignored their "odd" looks and interrupted their questions about me and introduced me. "Guys, this is Sai-kun. He's Forehead's new teammate and a friend. Sai-kun, this is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Sarutobi Asuma-sensei."

We both knew she didn't do the introductions for my sake – she did it for show. They_ do not know _me_, but _I_ know _them_._

"Hello." I said, offering them my usual "smile" attempt.

"Uh… hi/hello/nice to meet you," were their responses.

"Scoot over, Shika!"

Shikamaru tried to quickly scoot to the end of the seat against the wall so Ino wouldn't push him there (he wasn't fast enough so she did anyway) while pulling the two of us into this side of the booth. Chouji and Asuma were on the other side.

I heard Chouji mutter something about a _"creepy smile" _as he resumed eating. _Is my smile really "creepy"? Dickless says that all the time…_

Shikamaru eyed me warily but continued to eat as well.

Ino prompted me to eat, too, since I joined them.

For a moment, Asuma stared at me, not even bothering to take a bit of his food. _Shouldn't he hurry, lest Chouji eat it all?_

Until…

"_Oh_! Now I know why your uniform looks so familiar! You're from ROOT, aren't you?" Shikamaru and Chouji looked up from their food, now curious.

"Actually, you seem all-around familiar, too, not just the uniform. You're that new graduate prodigy, right? Tou-san-…**(1)** I mean, Hokage-sama was muttering something about a graduate with really pale skin. Are you him?"

I nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Well congrats, then! Er… I guess… well, you know…" It occurred to me that he may know about the final test, which isn't the best of events. _The fact of the graduation is usually something to be celebrated, but a fight to the death/killing your teammate is not. That must be why he is conflicted._

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Shikamaru seemed curious. _Now that I think about it, Shikamaru's intelligence may be a threat to keeping the secret about our time traveling. We should be careful about him...__  
_

"Thank you nonetheless, Sarutobi-sempai."

"Nah, nah. Just call me Asuma."

"Asuma-sempai then."

"I guess that works…"

"What's ROOT?" Shikamaru asked.

This time, Ino answered before Asuma could. "ROOT's an elite organization that's sorta like a private branch of the ANBU. It's run by Danzo."

"And… *chomp* you graduated… from it? You're… *glup* our age, aren't you?" Chouji asked, around the food in his mouth.

I nodded "yes" as Ino scolded Chouji for talking with his mouth full.

When he replied, "yes, Mother", I was confused. _Huh?_

"What does he mean, 'yes, Mother'? You're not his mother. Is that a 'saying'?" I asked. _What an odd saying._

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma gave me what I would label as "weird" looks. Actually, Asuma seemed more skeptical, like he had an idea of why I act the way I do. _He may know more about ROOT than I thought, being so close to our Hokage._

"Yeah, it is. The way I scolded Chouji was a lot like the way a mother would scold her child. So when something like that happens, the 'child' in this case would say, 'yes, Mother' to mock the 'Mother' in the situation. It's usually said in a sarcastic tone."

"Oh." I said, taking a small note about that in my notebook quickly, and then resuming to eat.

"What's going on here?" Shikamaru asked after a moment.

Ino answered "smoothly". At least, I assume you could describe that as "smoothly". I'm not sure. "Sai-kun's emotionally stunted, per say. It's usually up to Forehead and I to explain things to him, since Sasuke-kun wouldn't bother, Naruto gets angry, and Kakashi-sensei wouldn't bother much either. At least, that's what Billboard-Brow said.

"Sai-kun also has nicknames for the people he knows."

"Really?" Chouji asked.

"Yes. My books say they are a good way to quickly make friends."

"Book… make friends…?" Shikamaru muttered.

"Anyway," Chouji interrupted. "Do you have nicknames for us?"

I nodded. _I think these are okay. I'm not as… proud (?) of these as I am with __**my**__ teammates, but they're the best I've got._

"You are 'Teddy', Shikamaru-san is 'Sloth-san', or 'Namake-san'**(2)**, and Asuma-sempai is 'Smoker-san'."

"'Teddy'? Why 'Teddy'?" Chouji asked.

"You are… plump and soft like a teddy bear. I've been told you are very nice, and do people not seek comfort in teddy bears? I thought it would fit. Is that not right?" I was confused. _I thought that would work… and I made sure not to use the "f"-word..._

Chouji smiled, to my surprise. "No! It's fine. I like it, actually."

"How'd you know I was lazy?" Shikamaru asked.

I turned to him, a "smile" on my face as usual. "You have this air about you. Also, Beautiful has told me a lot about you all."

"… Who's 'Beautiful'?"

"That would be me, of course!" Ino said, beaming.

Chouji and Shikamaru muttered something under their breaths and I felt and heard Ino kick them under the table. _Hm… did she hear and what they said offended her? Ugly does that, too…_

"'Smoker', huh? Okay, I guess. I probably smell like cigarettes anyway."

"You just like the name because Smoker is you favorite character in One Piece.**(3)**"

Asuma laughed. "Got me there."

After eating the last of his food, he slid out of the booth and stood up, stretching. "We're all done, right? So let's go. The bill's here, anyway."

He laid some money on the bill on the table and I laid some of my own on top. Asuma and Ino tried to protest, but I insisted. After all, it was a _team_ gathering and I'm not part of the team.

"Now that I think about it, what were you doing wandering around town, anyway?" Ino asked, as we exited the restaurant.

"Cockat- ah, Sasuke-kun's**(4)** birthday is coming up and our team is throwing a surprise birthday party. We all need to get presents. I was trying to think of a present for him. Please keep the party a secret – if Ug- I mean, Sakura knew that the secret… um, what do you call it… '_leaked'_ and got to Sasuke-san**(5)** because of me, she'd hurt me. And she's quite strong, despite her appearance."

I shivered, remembering the strength of her fist.

"Ooh!" Ino said. "I have an idea!"

She turned to Asuma. "Asuma-sensei, we're basically done for the day, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but-"

"'Kay then! I'm gonna help Sai-kun get Sasuke-kun a present! Bye, guys!" Ino began pulling me into town.

Shikamaru and Chouji waved goodbye slowly as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.

I saw Asuma shrug when I looked over my shoulder, and take the others in another direction.

* * *

"When's the party? It's on his birthday, right? The 23rd?" Ino asked me as we walked side-by-side.

"Yes. Today's the 18th." _I had forgotten Beautiful was a classmate and fangirl of Sasuke's. It's no wonder she knew his birthday._

"Five days, huh… When did you talk about the surprise party?"

"Ugly told us 2 days ago. She and Sasuke's mother are the planners."

"Hm… Any ideas?"

"Naruto advised me clothes would be 'awkward' from a friend, especially a male one. Ugly said Scarecrow-sempai may probably get him kunai, therefore, unless it's 'special', don't get him weapons. So no."

The two of us sat down at a wooden bench, thinking.

I took the time to look at Ino. _Despite my original reasoning for calling her "Beautiful", I think… I think I may believe her to be quite "pretty". After so long, my sense of "beauty" is beginning to return. Though it seems to apply more with nature, inanimate objects, and animals rather than people._

_But it seems I'm starting to find people "pretty" or the like as well now. Attractive maybe. Soon, if all goes well, I'll be able to see other people similar to how everyone else does._

_That said, and as I said before, I think Ino may be quite pretty in my eyes. I don't know for sure... I like the way she looks, and I could stare at her for a long time. I also get a weird feeling, when I look at her. Like a receptor's going off my brain. Maybe that's what tells me who is good-looking and who isn't. That's how my book described it. "Like a subconscious receptor..."_

"Sai-kun?" Ino's voice said.

_I had forgotten she was here talking to me._

"Yes? I apologize. I was… um…"

"Spacing out?" Ino finished for me.

I nodded.

"It's alright. I think I have an idea, though."

"What is it?" _She has very deep sky-blue eyes… I like looking in them._

Ino seemed to redden a bit –maybe from my gaze– but continued.

"Why not paint something? You are an artist after all."

_ So simple, but makes a lot of sense. _"Of course! I _am_ an artist."

_But wait a moment… _"But what should I paint? It can't just be anything right? Something… 'special and meaningful' like my books said… but what?"

Ino thought for a moment. Soon, she snapped her fingers. "I think I've got it!"

Then, she leaned in and whispered into my ear. "How about this…"

* * *

"Thank you Beautiful, for today." We stood in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. She lived next to it with her parents. The rest of the clan all live in a little sector, like all the other big clans, nearby.**(5)**

It was sunset.

She smiled. I got a weird feeling in my stomach.

"Your welcome, I had fun."

After she told me her idea for what to paint for Sasuke's birthday, we went over to the art store to get supplies.

After that, we dropped the things off in my apartment and spent the rest of the day walking around town as she explained modern expressions, mannerisms, and such to me. As well as answer some questions I had.

She was more straight-forward and blunt than Sakura, and unlike her, didn't stutter and get angry with me after a while.

Though I enjoyed company with Sakura (I think) I enjoyed Ino's much more (I think). And not just because she wasn't violent with me.

Well, that was part of it (I believe; I'm not very sure of anything anymore). I don't really know the rest of it, though.

But I _do_ know that I really had fun with her today, and I think I felt a bond growing.

In the future, we didn't spend much time with each other. But now, here we were, spending the whole day together.

I like it. _I like it very much._

"Let's spend more time together, okay?" Ino said.

I nodded. "Of course. If you wouldn't mind, could we also meet up more to help me with my… problem?"

"Yeah! We can have session-like-things. That takes care of the spending-time-together thing, too. Here – let's trade phones. I'll give you my number and you give me yours."

We traded numbers. I put myself in her contacts as "Sai-kun" (since she calls me that) and she put herself in as "Beautiful".

"Okay! I'll text you when I have a free afternoon. Then we can meet up at…."

"What about my apartment?" I offered. "You know I live alone."

"Yeah! That'd great! I don't want my parents to be around…"

"Why?" I asked.

She reddened and waved her arms frantically. "S-so they d-d-don't interrupt, y-you know?"

I'm not sure what was odd about the answer, but I just accepted it. "Oh, of course."

I turned to leave. "Well, then, until next time Beautiful."

I was about to walk away when her voice stopped me. "Wait!"

She to me and turned me around to face her. "'Until next time' sounds a bit formal and like we only see each other every couple months. Or even a movie line. 'Bye' is fine, or even 'goodbye' for you."

She leaned close to me. _What is she doing?_

Her lips lingered on my cheek for a moment, and then pulled away.

"Bye, Sai-kun!"

I waved until she disappeared into her home.

I put a hand to the cheek she kissed, feeling my face warm just a bit for some reason. _Am I blushing? I wonder why…_

I started walking back to my apartment, as the sun set even lower, the skies getting darker.

_I liked it when she kissed me on my cheek. But I wonder what this odd feeling is… I should probably ask the Hag. For some reason, I don't want Beautiful to know about my weird feelings…_

* * *

**Earlier that day, Kiba POV**

_Damn it all… I don't want to do this shit!_

I grumbled angrily to myself as I walked around town, aimlessly. _Why the hell should I have to get that Sasuke bastard a present? Who gives a fuck about his birthday? I don't!_

"He didn't get _me_ a birthday present on my birthday almost two weeks ago…**(6)** Why should I be forced to get _him_ one?" I muttered to myself.

Akamaru barked indignantly.

"Sorry. **_Our_** birthday."**(7)**

He barked again, but longer this time. _"He __**did**__ get us a present, remember? Mikoto-san forced him to get you something –shuriken – and Shisui actually got us something legit,"_ I translated.

Okay, that wasn't _exactly_ what he said, but "dog" doesn't translate easily into human speech. Wild dog is much vaguer.

That's the gist of what Akamaru said, sorta. I'm not sure how to explain it to normal people… _Did I just call myself abnormal? Well, I'll take it as a compliment, then… a compliment from myself…_

"Key word, Akamaru: forced. And yeah… those headphones Shisui got us were cool. Well, the ones he got me, anyway. But the hot, fresh steak he made with Mura for you was good, too, right?"

He barked in agreement.

_Maybe I should just get that bastard something shitty. Not too shitty, though… Sis'll kill me. And so will Mom. And Mikoto-san…_

I shivered.

Sigh.

* * *

Okay, I'm sure you're all curious about my obvious hatred for Sasuke, right?

To be honest, I don't hate _Sasuke_ as much as I claim, per say, but my pride won't let me admit that so just forget that first part of the sentence.

Let's say, theoretically, that the first part of that sentence was true.

What did I _really_ hate then? _God, I sound like a therapist. Who am I talking to, anyway? Whatever._

Here's the run-down:

Remember how Hana was teammates with Shisui and Itachi as kids, graduating early and all that shiz?

Yeah, well, inevitably, that'd lead to me and Sasuke having to hang out with each other a lot.

We got along pretty well I guess, but we were kids and protective of our older siblings – we didn't like the other's older sibling stealing away **_our _**older bro/sis. So we had this underlying dislike for each other, as well as a truce or some sort.

We were little boys. What did we know?

I don't really get it either, though.

Anyhoos, we got along alright, and were friends. Not _best_ friends, but pretty okay friends. That's also how I first met Naruto by the way – when Hana and I came over to the Uchiha Manor and found Naruto there.

Likewise for how Sasuke (and soon Naruto) met Shino.

We got along (Naruto and I) a lot better than I did with Sasuke, obviously, though we fought a lot. _We're too alike, according to Sis._

Soon, I acquired Akamaru, too. So Sasuke and Naruto have known him for a while.

Anyway, us Inuzukas and the Uchihas became close-ish.

Then, Itachi killed nearly all of his family and defected from the village.

It.

Broke.

Hana's.

Heart.

Shattered it like a vase.

Tore it into tiny pieces.

Shredded it into _tinier_ pieces.

Burned said pieces.

It hit her so bad, she kinda lost sanity for a couple months – she mumbling to herself, having mood swings, being hysterical majority of the time. It was frightening.

All because Itachi left and Massacred the majority of his clan while he was at it.

I had to stay over at Shino's for 3 months – away from my sister that was suffering _so __**much**__._

Even though I was just 8 years old,**(8)** watching her heart break hurt me, too. A lot.

Soon though, my sister calmed down and she was back to her normal self after months of a badly hidden depression. _Shisui was a big help, too._

Ever since, the Inuzuka-… no. Mom and Hana are still friends with Mikoto and Fugaku and all that. _It was really just the 3 of us that were close to the Uchihas. The rest of the clan didn't care._

It's _me_ that avoids the place.

I have no problem with Mikoto and Shisui, though.

Fugaku's kinda intimidating.

I'm explaining Sasuke to you.

So as you can see, it was really _Itachi_ that I hated for doing what he did to my sister.

Part of my hate is misdirected (my pride says to forget that was ever said) to the clan and mostly Sasuke because they're the closest thing we have to Itachi.

But that's like, barely even 10% of why I have such hatred/extreme dislike towards Sasuke.

But why else do I hate Sasuke?

After the Massacre, he became a total _asshole. _

He hardly seemed to care that anyone but himself was hurting.

No, it was all "_me, me, me"_! "I'm hurting the most, and I must take revenge upon him!"

Okay, he didn't say that, but he was probably thinking it. And everyone knows that he has a revenge obsession.

People who love him like Mikoto try to pretend it's not there so he's not lost, too. _Mikoto doesn't show it, but she's terrified of losing Sasuke as well. Even Fugaku cares._

And it wasn't just the revenge thing – Sasuke was an all-around jerk. It amazes me that Naruto remained friends with him. _The nice part of me says that maybe, deep down, Sasuke's not all that bad, and that's why Naruto stays. And because he understands him._

That same part of me kinda understands him and wants to as well. But I'm so angry with him, I bury that part down.

So, over the years, I grew to hate him as much as I do now.

Understand?

Good, because Akamaru is chewing my pants off.

* * *

"Geez, _what_ is it, Akamaru?!"

He let go of my pant leg, and pointed a paw over to the nearby bookstore.

Inside was a girl my age that was trying to reach something on a shelf that was too high for her.

But it wasn't just any girl.

_It's **her**._

I've seen the girl around Konoha just a couple times, which is odd because I know nearly every face in town and see them way more often than I see her. I take Akamaru on walks at least once or twice a day, you know.

_Does she stay at home a lot? Does she leave the village a lot or something?_

She's usually around a guy at least 4 years older than her, too. Once, he was pushing her around in a wheelchair. _Her brother? I doubt that's her boyfriend._

For some reason, my eyes were easily drawn to her.

Just yesterday, I saw her staring at some puppies from outside the pet store. You know how sometimes there's a platform or something at the window, so people can look in and see the cute animals?

Yeah. She was looking at that.

Anyway, I was so distracted staring at _her_ while _she _stared at the puppies that I walked right into a telephone pole.

I saw her giggle, and I blushed.

Then, Akamaru barked something, and turned to him whilst rubbing my face.

But when I turned back after defending myself from his comment (which was, "_Watch where you're going Lover Boy."_) she was already gone.

But now...

I walked over to her in the bookstore, reaching above her to get the book she wanted.

"This the one?" I asked, looking down to her.

"Y-yeah…" she said, taking the book from me. "Thanks."

It was pretty obvious why I was distracted by her yesterday – the girl was _really_ pretty. And _really_ cute.

She had jet black hair that reach just past her shoulders that looked like they wanted desperately to curl like a princess's but couldn't, and settled with just _slight_ curliness.

She had a cute, heart-shaped face. _Or is it more round-ish? I dunno… that's what girls are for. Knowing shit like this._

She had pale-ish skin, just a bit more color than Hinata's skin color. Just a smidgen of more color.

A smidgen.

Um… anyway.

She had the cutest mole below her right eye, resting on the top of her cheekbone.

Her eyes… they were the most unique eyes I've ever seen, I'll give you that much. They were ever-changing blue-green eyes.

Seriously.

One minute, they're a vivid, deep, electric blue; then they change into a softer teal, like the ocean; then into a vibrant emerald green; then a lighter peridot shade; and then into a soft, baby blue, starting the cycle over again.

She was also shorter than me. Her eyes were level with the top of my neck. Quite the petite girl, in general, reminding me of Hinata.

"You're welcome," I said.

"Would you like to get something?" she asked me, giving me a sweet smile.

To hide my blush, I turned away. "Nah, I'm not much of a reader." _She has cute dimples… and her smile's pretty, too._

"Oh. 'Kay, then."

Just then, Akamaru whimpered, begging for attention. _Attention whore… he likes girls more than I do! Well-… maybe…_

"Ooh! A puppy!"

She picked the attention-seeker up, and petted him behind the ears.

He ate it _right_ up, loving it, that little mutt…

"What's his name?" She asked.

"Akamaru."

* * *

**Outside the store, a couple moments later.**

"So does the pretty girl have a name?" I asked, when we took a seat on a bench near the bookstore. _So that line __**doesn't**__ only work in movies… I didn't sound like some desperate douche. At least, I don't think so._

She blushed cutely (_I've been using that word a lot; what's wrong with me?!_) and turned away, obviously embarrassed. _Yup. The line worked. No desperate-douchey-ness there._

"You think I'm pretty?" She asked. _Hm… interesting. She's modest._

"Dunno, do you have a name?" _Smooth, Kiba. Good job!_

"Yes."

"Then there's your answer."

She blushed harder and I smirked. _I am __**so**__ good!_

"I'll give you mine if you give me yours. Name, I mean." She said. _Not bad, cutie!_

I smirked again. "Inuzuka Kiba, at your service. You're already holding Akamaru, my best bud. He's my ninken.**(9)**"

"Kanazawa Mitsuki. 'Mitsu' meaning 'honey'.**(10)** My dad loved honey, so he named me after it."

"Nice to meet you, Mitsu. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

She smiled. "No, not at all, Kiba-kun. So you're a ninja?"

I nodded. "My teammates are, luckily, my childhood friends, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. And Akamaru, of course."

"Cool! I'm just a civilian, obviously… but now that I think about it, what were you doing walking around town today, anyway?"

I frowned remembering my predicament.

I decided to explain it to her.

* * *

"Oh, I see…" she said, nodding quietly, all the while petting Akamaru.

"Yeah…"

"So you guys were friends when you were kids, right?"

"Yeah."

"Does any part of you want to rekindle that friendship?"

I was shocked and sputtered. "W-wh-what? N-no way! Of c-course not!"

She gave me a look. And the weird thing is, that look was penetrating.

To me at least.

So, I caved, shoving my pride to the side slightly, for once.

I scratched my head, embarrassed, pulling my hood down. "Well… maybe. I don't miss it all that much, but still..."

"Then why not get him something meaningful then?"

"He's _Sasuke_. I highly doubt he wants to rekindle our friendship. And if in some alternate universe he did, then it'd definitely buried much deeper in his pride than my desire was. His pride is the size of Paris, I swear. And like I said – we weren't all _that_ close."

"Then…" She thought for a second, tapping her forefinger against her chin.

I can't believe I'm saying this word again, but it was cute. _WHAT is wrong with me?_

"How about just taking a small step then? Just a hint, using the present; assuming you had some sort of item that was precious to you both as children and would make him remember the instant he saw it."

I shook my head. "No such object."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay then… um… judging by the way you described him, I bet there doesn't seem to be much that he likes and he has quite a few other people getting him presents… Wait, ooh! What about…"

She whispered the idea into my ear.

"It's not super special and meaningful and stuff like that, but it shows you made an effort to get something for him. And maybe, you guys could talk it out or something sometime."

"I highly doubt the latter's going to happen but your idea sounds good. I think I'm gonna do it. Sasuke's pretty perceptive, so maybe that could give him a clue about… you know… wanting to become friends again... I wouldn't have given him a present that took some sort of effort without caring about him at least a little bit, despite my sister and mother pushing me to, and he knows it."

I took a look at the sky. _The sun's setting already?_

I stood up and stretched. "I better get home, I've been out for a while."

"Wait a sec!" Mitsuki said, standing up as well.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I… I want your number!" Her face was red, and she was looking at the ground. _I __**refuse**__ to say the word "cute" again… Shit, I said it!_

My eyes widened. "Oh! We can just trade phones, then."

We traded and entered in our numbers.

"There you go," handing hers back. When her hand grazed mine when I gave hers back, it felt like my hand was on fire and I pulled away the moment she had a firm grip on her phone.

An eyebrow rose but she didn't say anything.

"How about I walk you home?" I asked, wanting to spend more time with her for some unidentifiable reason.

_Okay, it's pretty easy to tell what it is, but I'm not ready to admit that yet. Pride, remember?_

"What? Y-you don't have to d-do that!"

She said, trying to protest whilst blushing.

"I insist. So which way to your place?"

Realizing I wasn't going to give up, she sighed and started walking. "This way."

* * *

Here we stood outside her apartment door, on first floor of the building. "Thanks for bringing me home, Kiba-kun."

"Your welcome, Mitsu-chan."

Before either of us could say anything else, her door burst open and there stood the guy I'd occasionally seen her with before.

"Who's this, Mitsuki?"

"Oh! Nii-chan!" _Called it._

Now that I saw them _both_ up close, I could see the resemblance.

However, instead, he had tanner skin (sun, maybe? Or natural?), chestnut brown that hair lighter than mine, and forest green eyes. And his mole was just slightly lower, about a centimeter lower, on his _left_ cheekbone instead of his right and resting on top of it like Mitsuki's.

"Nii-chan, this is Inuzuka Kiba and that's Akamaru. They're friends I made today. Kiba-kun, this is my brother, Kazuo. 'Kazu' meaning harmony.**(11)** Nii-chan, Kiba's a ninja, too!"

His stare stayed hard. "You are, huh?"

"Yes, Kazuo-san. Genin." _Let's face it – he had the "touch-even-a-hair-on-my-little-girl-and-I'll-kill -you!" stare that older brother and fathers have. It was intimidating! And kinda scary! Though it's kinda flattering that he was using it on me... sorta... in a way... it's complicated. You know... shit like that._

"Hmph. I'm a jounin."

After a moment of staring at me, his expression softened slightly and he turned to his sister. "I'll be inside, 'kay?"

Then, he re-entered his apartment.

"Sorry about that," Mitsu said. "My brother's pretty over-protective. He means well, though! Judging by his reaction, I guess he decided you weren't dangerous. He's a good guy once you get to know him, though. Honest."

I gave her a smile. "I bet. I'm the same way with my sister sometimes." _It's true. Worst part for them is that I could actually growl like a dog. And she has 3 large dogs to growl with me. Scary, much?_

She smiled back. _What a pretty smile…_

Trying to hide my blush, I coughed. "So I'll be seeing you then?"

She nodded. "See you Kiba-kun! I'll text you sometime. Or call you. Whichever."

"I'd like that." We waved good bye, and I left.

On the way home, Akamaru snickered and made fun of me. _"Someone's got a crush~!"_

"Shut up, you stupid mutt!" _Maybe I do like her, but I won't give Akamaru the satisfaction._

I "hmph"-ed.

Soon after, my stomach growled.

"I wonder what Mom made for dinner…" I muttered.

* * *

**(1): Asuma's one of the Third's sons. I believe he has 3. One's dead and has been for a while, I think, and another is Konohamaru's dad. We know nothing about any of the others, though. I could be wrong about the first brother.  
(2): "Namake"="lazy" in Japanese. I tried to get "sloth" in romaji but I couldn't find it, so I settled for "lazy". Sorry for the lame nicknames, guys. I should've just asked you for some.  
(3): He's pretty epic, too, btw. He's made of smoke, he smokes, and his name's really Smoker. And yet, the 4kids dub changed his name to Chaser. WTF? Sure, he chased Luffy a lot, but that's his job!  
(4): I remember in the manga that Sai has referred to Sasuke as "Sasuke-kun" when he used his name. In the anime, too, I think. Some guys use it, and they're... I don't want to say more "feminine" guys, but it doesn't surprise me a guy like Sai would use "-kun". Not that I'm calling him gay or anything. I'm going to throw around both "-san" and "-kun" on Sasuke's name when Sai actually says it, though, okay? He's experimenting on which he should use.  
(5): I figured all the big clans lived together, like the Hyuuga and Uchiha. I know for sure the Uchiha have individual houses for each individual family within their property, so that's probably the same for the other clans, but less isolated. (the Uchiha clan was isolated, remember?) Except maybe their manors aren't as huge and it isn't as blatant that that small section of the village is there.  
(6): Kiba's birthday is July 7th. (Important date... Japanese holiday, and important in FT) Remember, it's July 18th.  
(7): Kiba and Akamaru have the same birthday. I'm not kidding.  
(8): I figured Sasuke was 8 at the time of the Massacre by weighing the circumstances, how old they looked, and stuff like that. Or no older than 9 at least, and Itachi had to at least of been 13: that's when he became ANBU captain. So Sasuke can't be any younger than 8 for that to be true. But I figure he was 8. And since Kiba's about 2 weeks older than Sasuke, he was 8, too, when it happened.  
(9): "Ninken"=Ninja dog(s).  
(10): Mitsuki has a backstory, but I don't want to go into that now. It also explains why Kiba doesn't see her often and why she was once in a wheelchair. If you've read DoOver, you know why.  
(11): Obviously, their dad is a pretty big influence to them. Not a single mention of their mom, right? I found Kazuo's name when I looked up male Japanese names. I didn't give him one in DoOver. Nor did I describe how he looked.**

**I hope Kiba's POV was entertaining for you, and the flirting was okay. I tried my best...**

REMEMBER! FUGAKU IS ALIVE! HE'S JUST BEEN ON A BUSINESS TRIP! I CHANGED MY MIND A WHILE BACK!

YOU CAN STILL GIVE ME PRESENT IDEAS FOR KAKASH AND SAKURA!

YOU CAN GIVE ME NICKNAMES THAT SAI CAN USE FOR CHARACTERS THAT AREN'T IN TEAM 10 OR 7!  
I'M A LAME, SO I WANT YOUR GUYS' GENIUS!

Don't forget that the 75th and 100th reviewer gets a one-shot of their choice out of the couples I support or stuff like that. Kay?

I also need to write the one-shots I promised other reviewers...

**Love y'all!**

**-Cherry**

**PS: So Miami Heat won, huh? Man - I watched like zero pro basketball this season! I only watched college from the Sweet 16 to the finals... (I lost a bet then). American football season... get here, already!**


	15. Chapter 15: Surprises and Hanging Out

**Sunday, July 7th, 2013.**

**Happy Tanabata! (Japanese holiday; I don't know very much about it, though...)**

**This is a pretty important, holiday though. So big, it's incoporated into big anime names. If you've read/seen The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and/or Fairy Tail, you should know this date. It's big in those anime.**

**Today is Kiba, Akamaru's, and Colonello's (KHR) birthdays. They'll be doing the disclaimer.**

**But since Neji's was the 3rd (with M.M. [KHR]), he'll be doing it with them.**

**Also, the 2nd was Mammon/Viper's (KHR), the 4th was Baki's, and the 6th was Kin's.**

**Answer to last QotW: **_I'm stupid so forgot to do one last week._

**Anime Reccomendations: **_Movie, actually. The Girl Who Leaped Through Time - it's a good one. One of my faves of all time, actually. It was directed by the same guy who directed Summer Wars (I saw it yesterday; loved it) so it was bound to be good. Guess what? Has anyone seen Digimon? The guy who directed the original Digimon movie directed the aformentioned movies. I knew the moment I saw the portal-thing in TGWLTT, and suspected it in the Summer Wars trailers. I was right. Guess what? They were all good movies. Watch 'em._

**Book Recommedations: **_The Ascension Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielson. So far, the first two are out - The False Prince, and the Runaway King. Finished them this week. They were really good. I can't say much without spoiling it, but it's for everyone. Period. Go read it. They're already in my Top Series List._

**The Birthday chapter ended up becoming 3 birthday chapters, with the middle one being the longest. SasuSaku coming up. Family bonding. Everyone bonding. **

**I'll be going to NY the week after next, so it's good that I have the chapter done already - I may miss that Sunday.**

**I need to watch the second Gurren Lagann movie and Ano Hana soon to make up for my lack of anime this week and last... I watched Summer Wars yesterday.**

**Disclaimer:**

**Kiba, Akamaru in Dog Speech, Colonello, and Neji:** _EOC doesn't own Naruto, One Piece, or anything else mentioned here besides the plot and her OCs._

**Me:** _Good. Now, Colonello you may go back to your precious Lal. I'm sure she's pissed at you. As usual._

**Colonello: **_She's just tsundere, is all. Bye!_

**Me: **_That she is. Now, Kiba and Akamaru, get in your places and get ready for the next chapter._

**Kiba & Akamaru: **_Yes, Ma'am!/Woof!_

**Me:** _Neji, go to Tenten. You need to make up for Kishi's wrongdoing for killing you. Give us the NejiTen we crave!_

**Neji: **_... Alright, then..._

**Go read, my lovelies!**

_75th REVIEWER GETS A ONE-SHOT!_

**I really need to write something for SasuSaku month... do I have time?**

* * *

Chapter 15: Surprises & Hanging Out

* * *

**Sasuke POV, July 23****rd****.**

_Stupid Usuratonkachi…_

For some reason, the blonde idiot that calls himself my best friend dragged me to the training grounds the moment he saw me this morning. _Was he looking for me?_

He claimed we haven't hung out in a while, and refused to let me go.

So I was stuck with him.

For four. Freaking. Hours.

It's 12:30 now. It was surprising enough that Naruto was awake and around town at 8:30 on a day that we had off, but for some reason he decided he needed to spend it with me. For God knows why.

So for those 4 hours, we walked around town for a little bit, then trained and sparred. I was fine with the arrangement because it was an opportunity to beat the shit out of him for bringing me here in the first place.

And release frustration.

And well, train.

Surprisingly, I hadn't seen Sakura nor Kakashi all day. Not even Sai.

Okay, Sai wasn't all that surprising. But still.

Naruto claimed that Sakura was at Ino's house, but when I saw said Yamanaka in the flower shop and questioned his answer, he led us away from there and sputtered some lame excuse that Sakura "only said that she was out with some of the girls, and [I] assumed Ino's place was where it was happening and that Ino was there with her". Or something like that.

_He's lying._

It was quite obvious.

So I tried calling Sakura, but she didn't answer. Kakashi –no surprise there– didn't either. As a last resort, I tried Sai, but he didn't answer either.

I couldn't leave Naruto for a minute and ask Ino because I had a sneaking suspicion that she was in on whatever-this-was,**(1)** and wouldn't tell me.

Not to mention, Naruto wouldn't. Leave. Me. Alone.

_Now that I think about it, today's my birthday. Maybe they set up a surprise party and had Naruto distract me until it was time. And Sakura is God-knows-where because she's setting up my party. It's a pretty cliche tactic, but usually effective to some extent._

I took a look at Naruto.

_Yeah. That's probably right._

But for the sake of their surprise, I will pretend to remain oblivious.

**_Not because you're secretly excited and appreciative of it, of course._**

_Stupid Inner. Of course not._

My Inner sighed. **_You really insist on being tsundere, don't you?_**

_I'm not tsundere._

**_Of course not._**

I rolled my eyes at my Inner's sarcastic tone.

Just then, Naruto's phone rang.

"Y'ello.**(2)** Really? Uh-huh. Yeah. Right now? Yeah, all right. I don't think so. 'Kay. We-, I'll be there." The way Naruto glanced at me when he said "I don't think so" makes me think that whoever's on the other side of the line was asking whether I had caught on about the surprise. And he caught himself from saying "we'll be there" and said "I'll be there" because I'm not supposed to know about the party, much less that he's bringing me there.

_**Either you're really perceptive, or just ridiculously paranoid. I'm gonna go with "paranoid".**_

_I'm gonna go with "really perceptive"._

"Alright, let's get going, Sasuke-teme! There's one more place I want to take you." He said.

He walked toward me, taking out a black cloth. "But it's a secret, so I have to blindfold you." _I'd have to be an idiot to not figure out what was going on by now. I mean, come on! It's my birthday, he's distracted me for hours, our teammate is in some mysterious location, no one will tell me anything, and now he's taking me blind-folded to another mystery location (very possibly the same one our teammate's at) after answering a phone call from some mystery person._

I sighed. "Fine."

I held my hand out. "But I put the blindfold on. I don't trust you with something like that around my eyes and head."

* * *

"… Okay, another small stair and… yeah! Okay, we're here!" Naruto said, but not removing my blindfold.

I was taking guesses about where we were. It may be the Uchiha Manor, if the revenue is somewhere I knew.

Naruto's, Sai's, and Sakura's places all have a lot of stairs or elevators because they all live in apartments.**(3)** Same goes for me.

The manor has a couple small steps in front of the door, though, like wherever-this-place-is does.

Also, at one point, we'd be shaded from sunlight if where we were going was an apartment because it's part of a large building, whether the entrance of your specific apartment is visible from the outside or not – something that barely happened on the way here.

The walk here felt very familiar, so I think it's the manor. _I've walked there from the training grounds enough times._

I heard Naruto open a door. "Okay, walk in."

I felt his hands rise behind my head and I slapped them away. "I'll do it."

I removed the headband, and when my eyes finally adjusted to the light change I heard a shout of multiple voices. "Surprise!"

_Called it._

I was in the living room of the Uchiha manor, where blood red and white decorations were on the walls and hung from the ceiling.

There weren't too many, but not so little that it looked pathetic. I didn't like extravagant things, so I was glad those who decorated remembered that.

Above the entryway to the dining room was a banner that said "Happy Birthday, Sasuke!"

Mother, Sakura, Kakashi, Sai, Shisui, Mura, Tsume-san, Hana… Father and _Kiba and Akamaru _(?) were placed around the living room, apparently having been hiding until I got here.

"So, what do you think?" Naruto asked.

I smirked. A… happy-ish smirk. "Thanks, guys."

I met eyes with Father and he nodded, saying, "happy birthday, son," before walking up the stairs. It surprised me, but it felt… nice to know that he _did_ care.

Mother ran up to me and squeezed me tightly. "Oh, my little boy's growing older! 14 already!"

I hugged her back before pulling away. "Thank you, Mother."

**_Mama's Boy._**

_That would make you one, too._

**_I know. I like being a Mama's Boy. You're just too proud to admit that you are one._**

I ignored him.

Hana, Mura, Kakashi, Tsume, Sai and Shisui all told me "happy birthday" as well. Kiba muttered it reluctantly. _I wonder what it must have taken to force Kiba over here._

But he didn't seem as reluctant as I would normally expect, as far as demeanor goes. He seemed more… obstinate, rather than looking like he'd rather die than stay here.

He looked like he wanted to be here but didn't want to look like he did. Like that.

_I wonder why __**he**__ of all people would want to be here. He hates my guts._

**_But remember how you guys used to be friends? Maybe he wants to rekindle that friendship._**

_Doubt it._

**_But what if he does? _**

_We'll wait for that to happen and deal with it then._

Sakura came up to me. "Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun," she said with a smile.

We both took a seat on the couch, and turned to each other.

The others seemed to have something to do and disappeared from the living room, excluding the rest of the team. They all took seats on the couch and its armrests as well.

It appeared that Kiba and Akamaru were kicked out of whatever the others were doing, and instead leaned against the wall, watching us.

"Who came up with this?" I asked. **_You're happy someone cared so much to do this for you._**

_No, I'm not! Shut up, damn you!_

Sakura blushed and scratched her head. "I did, actually."

I rose a brow. _Really? Wow..._

"Well, I figured 'why not?' right? So I came to Mikoto-san and asked for her help with this surprise party a week ago, and here we are! I figured a small party would be fine, since you don't like crowds and all, so-, yeah… is it… okay?" She babbled. When she finished, she looked at me as if she was seeking embarrassed approval.

_Okay… I'll admit it… she almost looks kinda… cute._

**_You mean _**_really__** cute.**_** Ador****able_!_**_** Not that you'd ever say such words. Blasphemy it is, Outer. Blasphemy.**_

_I don't appreciate your tone._

**_It's the same as yours majority of the time you speak._**

_I know._

I sighed and nodded. She broke out into a smile.

She hugged me, but quickly pulled away, remembering we weren't alone and that I wasn't a big fan of such things.

Her face red, she turned away and laughed awkwardly.

Sensing the tension in the air, Kakashi spoke for the second time since I got here. "Didn't you arrange something, Sakura?"

I was confused about what that meant, but she brightened up immediately, turning to me excitedly.

"Oh, right! Sasuke-kun, I know you were interested in Man of Steel,**(4)** so I got all of us tickets –yes, you too, Kiba; just make sure Akamaru stays a human clone until we get into the viewing room– to the movies and watch it today! None of us have seen it yet, so that works out great! Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san used their connections to get that specific theater room empty except for us, so just for that showing, the whole room's ours! What do you think?"

If I was expressive, my jaw would've been dropped in shock. Instead, my eyes simply widened. _She did all that…_ just_ for_ me_?_

**_Did you forget? She likes us. A lot, I think. It's normal for a girl who likes a guy to go to lengths to make him like her. Or in this case, to make you happy._**

I resisted the strange urge to grin.

"Whoa, Sakura-chan! That's so awesome!" Naruto cheered.

Kiba was wide-eyed and I'm sure it was taking a lot in him not to say anything.

Akamaru, however, was barking and howling in happiness. _Who knew a dog would be excited to watch a movie..._

"Great job, Ugly." Sai commented.

Kakashi nodded.

"Well, Sasuke-kun?" She asked again.

I smirked. "When do we leave?"

She grinned widely and stood up, pulling me with her easily. _I forgot how strong she was. _

**_I think she did, too._**

"Right now, actually! The movie starts at 2 and it's-… Oh, man! 1:45! Let's get going!" She pulled me along with her, and the rest of the team and Kiba and Akamaru trailed out after us. _Good thing there's always 15 minutes or so of stupid commercials…_

I heard my mother call, "Have fun!" after us.

I thought about that statement for a moment.

_I think I will. It's my birthday, after all._

* * *

**After the movie, still Sasuke POV**

"That. Was. _AWESOME!"_ Kiba cheered as we re-entered the house.

I silently agreed with him. _That __**was**__ a good movie._

"Ooh… anyone smell that?" Naruto asked.

I took a whiff of the air in the house.

My eyes widened, recognizing the smell.

My mother entered the living room with a tray in her hands. Hana and Mura came in after her carrying more trays.

"I figured you wouldn't be all that hungry after eating popcorn and drinking soda and stuff from the movies, so we made these for you guys to snack on for the rest of the evening," Mother said.

In my mother's tray were my favorite – omusubi with okaka, as well as sliced tomatoes on a plate and cherry tomatoes.**(5)** **_Heck YES!_**

In Hana's tray were American-style crackers with sliced cheese, ham, as well as a mini vegetable tray. There was also a can of spray cheese.

_There's mom and her healthy alternatives._

On Mura's tray were some sweets and some meat and tofu, one of which I knew as Sakura favorite. _Naruto told me, alright?_

Anmitsu (Sakura's favorite) had its own plate, as well as tofu. **(6)**The largest plate on the tray had meat – beef strips, pork chops, and baby back ribs.

All of this would normally sound like a lot, but I'm pretty sure you forget that Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru have bottomless pits as stomachs. Despite already eating popcorn and soda. And ICEEs.

Not to mention, everyone always has room for their favorites. **_Always_**.

They gave us the trays, and my mother told me that she wanted "you kids to have fun in your [my] room while the adults did boring stuff downstairs and left you alone".

Kakashi even pulled out his book and sat on the couch, saying "have fun".

So we obeyed, and walked upstairs.

I was glad that they opted to leave me alone, remembering I didn't like a lot of company. _These guys are enough._

So I led the others up to my room where I found a certain something on my bed.

I placed a tray in Naruto's hands –telling him that if he ate all of it I'd burn his apartment to ashes, starting with the _all_ of the ramen– and picked it up.

I looked at Sakura. "Is this…?" She looked sheepish, nodding.

"No way!" Kiba exclaimed.

"That's the new One Piece movie! I didn't know that was on CD yet!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's not." Sakura said, shaking her head. "This time it was Shisui-san who used his connections to get this. It also has the TorikoXDragon BallXOne Piece special**(7)** on it. The CD's actually not supposed to come out until August 1st, but Shisui-san was able to get it yesterday. Read the note."

Only now did I notice there was a note on the CD case.

"Happy birthday, Little Cousin." I began, reading the letter.

"This is Mura and I's present for you (Mura also cooked some of your omusubi, so be grateful). You better appreciate this because it was pain in the ass to get this for you. So do us (me) a favor and-" I cut myself off, glaring at the note.

_"-and get yourself a girlfriend, would you? Hopefully a certain little pink kitten._**(8)**_ ;D *winkwink* *nudgenudge* *pokepoke*._

_-Shisui and Mura._

_PS: I tried to make him write something that wouldn't annoy you, I swear, but as you can see, it didn't work. Well, what he originally wrote was a little more… obscene (?) so this is better. Happy birthday, Sasuke-kun!" _

I finished the letter in my head.

The last part in cursive, as opposed to Shisui's normal printed scrawl. (For some reason, they decided to write it in English instead of Japanese,**(9)** but whatever) It was very obvious that the last part was from Mura. _Duh._

"Why did you stop yourself from finishing?" Sai asked, taken a piece of the tofu.

"No reason," I responded. "But it's definitely from Shisui."

Everyone gathered around or on my bed.

Sakura and I sat next to each other against the headboard –I pushed Naruto off from the spot– Kiba sat on a bean bag next to the end of the bed, Akamaru laid on Sakura's lap, Sai sat in a seat next to the bed, and Naruto took a pillow and leaned against the front end of the bed.

(The bed was facing the TV in my room.)

"Special or movie first?" Naruto asked, taking the CD case.

"Special." I answered. _Save the best for last, right?_

Naruto popped in the CD and turned off the lights in the room, letting the glow of the 42" flat screen fill the room.

I know. I'm a lucky bastard, aren't I? And I don't even live here anymore. I come here nearly once a week, if not once every two weeks, and only sleep here like once or twice a month because my mom calls me over.

Anyway.

We spent the next almost 3 hours enjoying the movie and the shounen anime special.

* * *

"I loved it," Mura commented.

The movie had ended just a few minutes ago, and sometime after we started the special, Mura, Hana, and Shisui snuck into the room and watched them with us.

The food and snacks Mother and Mura and Hana made were finished.

"All I can say is…" Kiba started. "Robin looked hotter than ever, younger or not."**(10)**

Naruto and Shisui nodded furiously. Shisui hesitated at first, looking to his girlfriend for approval who rolled her eyes and nodded.

"I really liked it. Did you, Sasuke-kun? Sai-kun?" Sakura asked, turning to us.

"I enjoyed it, Ugly." Luckily for him, Sakura was in a good mood so she didn't even bother to pretend to get off the bed to hurt him.

"Aa," was my response to her question.

She smiled.

Suddenly, something seemed to occur to Naruto right then. (When the movie was over, Naruto moved to sit on the front end of the bed, facing us.)

Naruto turned to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah?" She said from beside me.

"Normally, you would've hit me for being perverted and making comments over the girls during and after all this, but you barely did anything. Why?"

It was a good question. I actually hit Naruto just as much as she did, which wasn't very much. Sakura only hit Kiba once, but no more.

"Actually, I have the same question for Mura-koi**(11) **and Hana-chan." Shisui said.

_Mura would've hit Shisui much more often in a normal circumstance, but she didn't. And Hana hardly did anything to Kiba, Akamaru, AND Shisui. Why?_

Sakura blushed, scratching her head again. _She's definitely picked that up from Naruto._

I was a little miffed for some reason at realizing she picked up a habit from _Naruto_ of all people, but I didn't dare stop to think about why.

**_Because you're tsundere and don't want to realize you're jealous._**

_I'm going to ignore you._

**_You usually do._**

"Well, uh… it would've been almost a bit hypocritical…" Sakura said, clearly embarrassed.

_… Okay, __**what**__ is _that_ supposed to mean?!_

"I kinda thought that Zoro was pretty damn hot throughout this whole movie, so… Sanji, too, but mostly Zoro… and with such fantastic animation, I thought it only natural that everyone would look better so I cut you guys some slack. If I thought Zoro and Sanji looked… incredible, why couldn't you guys comment about the same thing about the girls?" By the end of this, she was completely red, and looking into her lap.

**_… I'm actually kind of jealous of those two [Zoro and Sanji] right now…_**

We turned to Mura. "Well?" Naruto asked.

She shrugged, her face a bit pink. "Same thing I guess. But can you blame us – Sanji and Zoro were downright _sexy_!"**(12)** Shisui rose a brow, teasingly.

Hana also said she agreed with what they said.

Sai took notes of this development, that weirdo.

Suddenly, Naruto, Kiba, and Shisui burst out laughing. "I *pant* can't believe *laugh* it! _That's_ why!? Hahahaha!" Said Shisui.

"I'm gonna remember this!" Naruto laughed out.

"Oh, man, Sis! This is priceless!" Kiba said between his laughs. Even _Akamaru_ was laughing.

Sai's next comment shut the rest of the guys up to hear the answer. "So would that mean you're into ZoroxSanji yaoi?**(13)** The two have a very strong hate-hate relationship and Beautiful –Ino– says that usually makes for a good yaoi couple.**(14)** And many girls like yaoi. I know Sakura likes it**(15)** but-"

Sakura tackled him, jumping off the bed and knocking him off his chair, putting her hand over his mouth. "Wh-what are y-you talking about, Sai-kun?"

It was obvious she was lying. If the fact that she tackled his so he wouldn't say anything didn't tell you that already.

_So she likes yaoi, huh?_

"You do?" Naruto asked.

"A little, maybe." She laughed.

"A little? You seemed to enjoy it _a lot_ when-" Sai spoke again before Sakura put her hand over his mouth again.

"What. Are. You. Talking. About. Sai-kun?" She said menacingly.

Then she whispered something in his ear.

I could only imagine what she said to him as he somehow got paler, then blue, and then purple. I sweat dropped. **_She's… pretty scary sometimes._**

_Yeah…_

Shisui, however, grinned as Sakura let go of Sai.

"So do 'ya? Mura-koi, Hana-chan? Do you guys love your ZoroXSanji yaoi? Do 'ya? Huh? Or do you prefer-"

"Guys! Come downstairs!" Mother called.

The girls sighed in relief. _Saved by the bell, huh?_

We all hurried downstairs, taking the now-empty food trays with us.

* * *

**(1): She knows, remember? She helped Sai pick out a present. I didn't show it, but after that, Ino grilled Sakura for info on the party. You know Ino.  
(2): That's how I answer the phone or say "hello" majority of the time. It's like a cross of "yellow" and "'ello". Sorta. It was meant to be "'ello" but I say it fast, so it ends up being "y'ello."**  
**(3): Sai's place seemed like an apartment. It was, likely. Sakura, in canon, DOES live in an apartment. Same goes for Sasuke - he hasn't lived in the Manor since the Massacre. I don't understand why people often write him as living there when he didn't - we saw both apartments. ****Sakura's more than once. ****Also, the Manor's a traditional Japanese home (though I write it as a western-Japanese cross) - the shot of Sasuke's bedroom in canon didn't look traditionally Japanese. ****In canon, Sakura lived on her own, (it seems) but for Road to Ninja, she lived with her parents for plot convenience. (I think)  
(4): The Superman DC Movie, if you didn't know. I haven't seen it yet, though...  
(5): His actual favorites. Minus the cherry tomatoes - I'm sure he likes them, though, since he likes tomatoes.  
(6): Sai's fave is a type of tofu, Sakura's favorite is amnitsu, and I'm too lazy to look up Kiba's. But I looked up everybody's faves for this chapter.  
(7): Episode 590 of One Piece I think. That's the second special I've seen - the first was TorikoxOP. And no, I doubt that special is on CD, much less with Movie Z when it comes out on DVD. I made most of the stuff up, except for the part of the special and movie. They exist.  
(8): AKA Sakura. Sasuke knows of Shisui's habit of calling people "kitten", so he knows who Shisui's talking about.  
(9): I felt like having them write in English. 'Kay? Let's just say they're fluent in both English and Japanese. Whatever.  
(10): This isn't really a spoiler but I'll tell you: in Movie Z, (and one of the filler eps for the movie) there's a girl who has the ability to turn someone 12 years younger, and can do so until that person ceases to exist. Example - say you're 11. If she uses that technique on you, you cease to exist because you've only been alive for 11 years, not 12. She used that technique on Brooke, Chopper, Nami, and Robin. If you don't follow OP or aren't that far yet, it doesn't matter if you read this.  
(11): "-koi" is a suffix used between couples. Equivalent of calling someone "love", but cuter.  
(12): They were. Especially Zoro. That animation made them look so much hotter than usual... *drool* And the girls looked prettier, too. And Chopper more adorable... he was as cute as he's ever been in that movie... like pretended that milk bottle was a gauntlet and making cute sounds while Z and Luffy talked... X3  
(13): Possibly the biggest couple in OP. OP has very little romance, and a lot of male characters, so yaoi's bound to happen. I'm not much of a yaoi fan, though, personally.  
(14): It's true. That's one of the reasons NaruSasu/SasuNaru is so huge. Hate-hate relationships make for _interesting_ interactions... if you know what I'm sayin'. ;D (I've always wanted to do that, forgive me XD )  
(15): Just read chapter 347. It wasn't in the anime. That's what Sai's talking about.**


	16. Chapter 16: Present-Giving and A Twist

**Wednesday, July 17th, 2013.**

**I'm updating early because I won't be able to this Sunday (the 21st) like usual, so cheer! I'll be visiting NYC and Maryland for a week, so yeah. I'm updating DoOver on time, though, because I'll be here to.**

**This is the longest chapter of the 3-chapter-birthday-celebration Arc. The next one is the final part and last of the Sasuke's Birthday Arc.**

**Bunch of SasuSaku, guys. ;D**

**Sasuke's birthday is next Tuesday, and I'll still be out of town. I was thinking of making a sequel chapter for A Couple Moments On the Road of Life like **hama431** wished for. I'm not sure if I'll do it, but if I do it, it will be very delayed for Sasuke's birthday. Like August. I don't think I will though, so sorry for those who wanted it.**

**I was hoping to do SasuSaku Month stuff, but sadly, I don't really have the time to. And any prompts I wanted to do I don't have time to write or their days have passed already. **

**Aren't the SasuSaku months the same as the NejiTen months because Neji's and Sasuke's, Sakura's and Tenten's, birthdays are all in the same months? Or is NejiTen month only in March and SasuSaku has July to avoid confusion? I dunno.. I should look it up.**

**Answer to last QotW: **_I forgot again. Wow, me._

**Fun** **Fact:**_ Um...I can't dance. Unless it's choreographed (like church praise dances) but even then it looks pretty bad. I was_ **not**_ put on this world to dance, that much is obvious. I'm pretty bad._

**Anime and Book Recommendation: **_No time, sorry. I'm in a rush._

**Disclaimer:**_ IDNON. (I do not own Naruto)_

**Dedication: **_To my friend, TehNicksterBoi. Go Nick! Check out his stories guys._

**Read on and enjoy the 5k+ words of SasuSaku my loves! **

**Most of the presents will be revealed here.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Present-Giving & A Twist

* * *

**Immediately following last chapter**

* * *

**Sasuke's POV**

When we got there, we found Tsume, Mother, Father, and Kakashi seated at a new table where the old dinner table usually is. Instead of the normal dinner table, there was a much longer one with more chairs in its place that had me wondering where it came from. _I don't remember this thing._

**_Oh, wait! I do! Remember when-… _**_h_e**_ became ANBU captain? Hana and her family were invited over to the Manor, and this table is where we ate so we could fit more people!_**

_… Oh. I remember now. I wonder where they keep it then…_

On the table was a cake in with royal blue icing, as well as presents lined up against the chairs at the table. _"Happy Birthday Sasuke!"_ was written in white icing across it.

"Come on – let's cut the cake and open the presents." Mother said.

"Isn't it like, nearly 9?" Naruto asked.

"Are you _refusing __**cake**_**,** Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Realizing what he just said, Naruto shook his head furiously. "No, no! Just-… isn't it _bad_ to eat sweets this late before you sleep or something?"

"It's fine as long as you're not sleeping soon, for the most part. The sugar gives you nightmares sometimes.**(1)** And I highly doubt you're going to sleep anytime soon. Are you?" Tsume answered, a brow raised.

We all looked at each other, then shook our heads.

"Didn't think so. Now hurry up – this is red velvet. I like my red velvet."

* * *

We ended up opening the presents in the living room, everyone gathered around.

Father was leaning against a wall across from us, though.

We brought our slices of cake over, too. _Red velvet is one of the few sweets I could stand. And I could tell that the icing doesn't have as much sugar as normal cakes do. Good._

"Ooh! Mine first! It's from your father and I." My mother said, stuffing something heavy and rectangular in my hands.

I tore away the wrappings and saw that they were 3 books.

One was_ Ninja Techniques for the Aspiring Shinobi: II__. _I had the first one, and was eager to get the second one that was said to have more advanced techniques and tips. My parents must have known.

Well, Mother must have, really. She's far more likely than Father.

_History of the Ninja World Vol. 3_was the second book, and yet another I was yearning to get.

I believed learning more of the world around me would be useful to get stronger. And if the ambition of killing Itachi would take me around the world, I should at least know something about it.**(2)**

The last one was a small book, around 20 cm, in length along its side. It seemed quite old.

_History of the Uchiha: I_.

I looked up toward my father, knowing it was from him.

"After this, come with me alone. I wish to show you something," he said.

I was confused, but nodded. _I wonder what it is…_

I thanked my parents for the books and moved on.

I saw Kiba's next. I glanced at him.

He was looking away from me, eating his cake. **_I wonder what it is... I still feel like he's making an effort to get along with you on purpose. Besides, you didn't hate his company, so why not be friends again? Don't you miss hanging out with him when we were kids?_**

_Hardly. _

**_*Sigh* You're so damn stubborn. Just open the present already._**

_Fine._

I opened the bag, taking out the dark present tissue. _No doubt Hana made him add that._

Inside was a shuriken and kunai set.

Not just some shitty, kiddy, set as I would expect from him.

It was a nice, quality set that every ninja would need. _He actually… put effort into this?_

**_HA! Called it!_**

I turned to him, about to open my mouth to _actually_ **thank** him when he interrupted me. _Really, Kiba? I was about to __**thank you**__, you know._

"There's more." He said simply, insisting on looking the opposite way from me. **_I think he's embarrassed._**

I didn't respond to my Inner, instead opting to look into the bag for that extra "item".

At the bottom of the bag was a paper; a coupon.

It was a _30%_ discount to my favorite weapon line's better ninja tool sets. It was to expire by the New Year's Eve of this year.

**_Now this is something we could _**use**_. _**

My eyes widened. I turned to him. "Thanks… really."

He nodded stiffly, but I saw a small smile/smirk-thing on the part of his face I could see with him turned away.

_Maybe he does want to be friends again…_

**_How do you feel about that? Admit it – part of you feels glad._**

I said nothing to him.

The women in the house all smiled. I think we all know why.

I rolled my eyes. _Women._

Next was Naruto's present; a small, rectangular box. _Is this a watch?_

I looked at him.

"Open it, damn it! I'm jumping in my seat here!"

And he was.

I shrugged and opened it. Inside were two dog tags.

I rose a brow. _Huh?_

"Well? Look at 'em!" Naruto said. "One's mine, by the way." _What was the point if half the present was his in the first place?!_

I pulled one up.

One side had the colored Uchiha fan (_must be mine_) as well as "Team 7" engraved at the bottom.

One the other side was my name, large and in the middle in kanji.

Below my name was "We're always with you, Teme."

I almost wanted to smile. **_That's our best friend, alright._**

I picked up the other one. On it was the red swirl that is on many ninja attire, such as Naruto's jackets, and flak jackets. **(3)**

Below that was "Team 7" as well, and on the back, like mine, was his name.

But, instead of a quote, there was just a beginning quotation mark, as if the blacksmith never finished.

"You get to decide what goes on it," he said smiling.

"Alright, then." I said. I really did appreciate his gift though. **_We're not the sweet, brotherly types of friends -quite the opposite actually- but he never fails to remind us how close we are to each other, and that we really do care about the other, like a brother. Not that you, Outer, would ever admit such a sentimental thing. That's my job._**

_Precisely._

Then I saw Kakashi's gift and I was wary about what it may be. _This is __**Kakashi**__ so… but then again, it _is_ my_ birthday._ Who knows with him?_

I took a breath and dived into his gift, half expecting an Icha Icha volume.

Instead was a basic set of other ninja weapons. Like chakra strings, trap supplies, and smoke bombs and exploding tags.

"Thanks," I said surprised and thankful.

Kakashi chuckled. "I was tempted to give you an Icha Icha volume half as a joke, and half out of seriousness, but decided against it. Too young for now. Not quite a man yet…"

I wasn't sure how to think of that, and I don't think anyone else was either.

A nagging little voice in my head (not my Inner) reminded me that in many ancient countries, 15 or 16 was the age a boy was acknowledged a man. _Could that be what Kakashi was referring to?_

Sakura voiced this.

"You're not to give it to him when he's 15 or 16, are you?" She asked accusingly. _Of course she'd remember historical facts… she's pretty smart. I forgot._

Naruto and Kiba were confused. "Why that age?" they asked at the same time. They gave each other a weird look afterward, before looking away awkwardly.

"15 or 16 were the ages that boys in many ancient countries became 'men'." Tsume explained. "Sakura thinks that's what he may have referred to by 'too young for now, not quite a man yet'." She glared at our sensei, obviously thinking the same thing.

Tsume may not be my mother, but that doesn't mean she doesn't act like one sometimes. We've known her so long, it's only natural she'd protect me like one of her own. It's not only her motherly instinct, it's her canine instinct as the alpha of her family. **_I always found it odd that we got along so well with a_**_ d__og_**_ family when our own clan is so close to_**_ c__ats,_**_ our supplier being an old woman (who may or may not be _**_part cat_**_…) on a_**_ c__at**-filled**_**_ island. _**(4)

Regardless, Kakashi pretended to be innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about. But I have a special offer to Sasuke, to complete his gift."

Everyone was surprised. _There's more?_

"What is it?" I asked.

After a delayed, dramatic, pause, he answered me. _Did you really need to drag the pause out?_

"How would you like me to personally tutor you? Outside the team?" Everyone was shocked to silence.

The few who didn't look that surprised were Tsume, Mura, Shisui, Hana, and Sakura. Well, actually, that's like half.

They all must have suspected such a thing, if Shisui didn't do it himself.

"Shisui, your father, yourself, and I are the last ones with the Sharingan. And Shisui and I are the only ones who still actively use ours and would be able to properly teach a fellow active ninja. _But_, I have more time, opportunity, and frankly, more drive to teach you than your cousin. I could also teach you more fighting techniques, since our Nature Types are similar." **(5)**

"So what do you say?" he finished.

I thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. _Pro: I get extra training and get stronger sooner._

**_Con: Less time on your own and times that you're free. But you usually spend that time training anyhow._**

_Pro: I advance my Sharingan._

**_Con: You're stuck with a lazy pervert for a long time. But it's worth it, I guess._**

After another moment of thinking, I agreed. "I accept. Thanks."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Get ready for some vigorous training. We start on the 25th at 7 am. The team does not meet that day, but we do tomorrow and the 26th at 12:30 pm."

I nodded, smirking. _The sooner the better._

Hana and Tsume's was next – they had a combined present. Inside a small present bag was two CDs that I didn't have yet and appreciated (Breaking Benjamin's and Three Days Grace's new albums**(6)**) greatly. There was also a pair of custom earbuds they had somehow gotten made – the design was the uchiwa fan (the Uchiha clan's symbol) and the cord was blue. On the fan was "S" – for "Sasuke".

I was very grateful. **_That's freaking awesome, damn it! Whoop for joy- oh wait. You don't do that._**

_No, I don't._

Next was Sai's.

It was a painting he had completed.

The image was zoomed in to two animals, but far enough to show the green meadow they were in as well as the river that was close by. A vermilion/orange/whatever fox was leaning against a dark blue, almost black, large-sized cat – the same size of the fox. Though both weren't quite adult-sized yet. **_Like teenagers of their species._**

That term caught my interest. _Teenagers, huh?_

They were leaning against each other against and under the shade of a young sakura tree. Petals were falling around them.

In the tree, the ridges and the bark of it looked a lot like a smiling face.**(7)** _Hm…_

Despite how young the tree seemed, its trunk was large enough to allow a couple feet in space between the other side of the fox and a small, white tiger, hidden to the side of the tree in the shadows. An animal I admired for its unique color, strength, and prowess.

The tiger was approximately the same age of the other two animals. Or so I'd assume.

It was looking at the other two almost curiously and with possible longing. But it was also smiling. As well as a tiger could smile, that is. And as well as a tiger could look curious and like it was longing for something… _I sound ridiculous_

Up in a branch in the tree was a grey wolf that seemed to be smiling down on them like a father. Its left eye was closed and had a scar like Kakashi-…

That's it!

_Of course! Duh, that's why the "teens of their species thing" piqued my interest…_

**_…What are you talking about?_**

_The painting is a representation of our team._

**_Well no shit, Sherlock._**

_… You already knew?_

**_I knew the second after I noticed there were animals instead of people in the damn thing._**

_…_

**_It took you a bit longer to figure it out, but you had an idea, at least._**

The wolf was Kakashi and it explained why its smile was familiar – it was the one I saw Kakashi giving us when he thought we weren't looking. Warm, proud, and father-like. It was one of the main things that reminded me Kakashi really cares.

The fox and cat were Naruto and I respectively. _Obviously._

The tiger was Sai, and the cherry blossom tree was Sakura. But I don't think the smile in the bark had anything to do with Sakura, though.

Then, I noticed something at the edge of the easel.

I couldn't believe I missed such a thing, but leaning against a boulder in the background was Sai looking at the tree with the animals with a minuscule smile on his face, painting an canvas in his hands._ He's painting this painting within this painting… wow…_

**_Paintception._**

_I haven't even seen the movie. __**(8)**_

**_The point still comes across._**

There was a portion of the sun in the top left corner, and its rays lit the rest of the painting. A rainbow stretched across the sky above "us", but stopped when it reached… the storm.

In the sky, in the top right edge of the easel, storm clouds were rolling in. _Okay, I think I'm confused._

When I looked up, I told Sai that though I didn't understand art very well, I appreciated it and thought it was great, understanding it as best I could.

**_He painted our team together in an expressive and warm way… beautiful. The symbolism was great, too – though you and Naruto have your differences and may not always get along, you care about each other in the end and are as close as can be – represented by two species (that represent you each well) that are famous for hating each other – a feline and a canine. Yet you were sleeping against each other peacefully._**

**_Kakashi watches over us, shown by his position and smile in the tree. Sakura is our support, and protects and loves all of us, represented by us sleeping against her, and shading us from the sun, her beautiful petals (which could possibly represent her love) raining down on us._**

**_The green pasture and stream shows a peaceful, beautiful, image that I think represents our caring relationship as a team. And maybe just the beauty life can have._**

**_The storm clouds represent that the life isn't all good, and bad things _**will**_ happen. But we're all together regardless._**

_… I doubt I would have gotten that deep in it on my own. Why are you so deep in art and I'm not?_

**_I kinda have some qualities you don't. I'm very perceptive for music, poems, and other kinds of symbolism like that. I can interpret them pretty well if I do say so myself. Actually, you could as well, but you just suppress that ability. Because cold stoic guys aren't deep and shit. But I'm still better at it than you. Someone has to be._**

"Thank you." Sai had said in response.

As I showed it to the others in the room, he spoke in case they didn't understand. "The fox is Naruto, the feline Sasuke, the wolf Kakashi, the tiger myself, and the tree Sakura."

"Why the clouds?" Tsume asked.

Sai simply offered her his usual "smile" and said, "Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, is it?"

Nothing more was said about the clouds and rainbow.

"What is with the face in the bark?" I asked.

"You'll learn soon enough."**(9)** Sai responded, smiling. _What is that supposed to mean? Does he know something I don't?_

When it final got around to the last person, Sakura, who was next to me, her eyes moistened, but not enough for tears to fall.

"You've finally gotten it back, Sai-kun," she said softly. _What is "it"? _**(10)**

His eyes lit up, and he turned to her. "You think so?"

She nodded, a warm smile on her face. I felt a pang of… _something,_ when I saw it. **_Envy, or jealousy, my dear friend. One of the 7 deadliest sins that is quickly becoming a problem for you. Pride was already your worst. Wrath may be second. Or may _**_have been__**; Envy's making its way up the ladder.**(11)_

_Shut up._

"There's more than I've ever seen, and more than you may have ever expressed. I'm proud. It's beautiful, Sai." She said softly in response.**  
**

I didn't know what it meant, but I decided to take out the next present and move on, putting the painting down.

I reached out for the final gift, Sakura's. But she stopped my hand with her own on mine gently. "I want to give it to you later," she said.

I nodded, and a silence fell to the room. But it wasn't uncomfortable.

**_I think we really... bonded with everyone a little today._**

I don't know why, but for some reason, that comment left an odd feeling in my chest. Like a weird part of me wanted the opposite and couldn't accept it, when even I, though I wouldn't admit it to anyone but myself, that I didn't _want_ to be alone. I liked the thought of becoming closer to those closest to me.

My father moved off from the wall and I stood up. "Let us go. You may return afterward."

I nodded to everyone else on the couch, and followed my father.

* * *

A couple moments later, we found ourselves in the underground rooms of the Uchiha manor I found when my remaining family was still in the hospital, not sure that they'd even live. I knew there were Uchiha secrets kept here, engraved in stones that could only be read with various levels of the Sharingan.

It hadn't even occurred to me to try and read them now that I had unlocked it. The Sharingan, I mean.

Father turned to me once we were in the main "room".

"You don't seem surprised, so I assume you must have found them before. That means I won't have to explain very much."

He took a breath.

"As you may know, these underground passages hold the secrets of the Uchiha. Able to be read by only members of our clan because they require the Sharingan to be interpreted, as I'm sure you also know. I brought you here because I think it's time that began learning a bit more about our clan. But I'm not going to teach it to you."

I was surprised. _What was the point, then?_

"I suspect that you will grow far past me, and discover things that not even I even know, regardless that I'm the head of the clan now. Some of the books here also require the Sharingan to be read, but are otherwise hidden with varying difficulty in how to get to them, depending on their importance. The book I gave you was from here, but not hidden because it doesn't hold secrets. But it does contain a more thorough history than any other library can. There are more here. You may find them yourself.

"I bring you here to give you permission to come here when you feel necessary and learn. You are the future of the clan, and my son. I trust you with this. "

I was pleasantly surprised. _I can't believe it…_

In my shock, my father came forward to me and grasped my shoulder tightly, with a warm, fatherly smile I hadn't seen since I was too young to remember much of anything. "I'm proud of you, son. You've come so far…"

My eyes watered, but I refused to let them fall. **_This is all we've wanted to hear from him for so long…_**

I wiped my eyes, nodding while smiling at my father. "Thank you, Father."

He nodded. "Let us go now. I'm sure your mother will be sharing as many embarrassing stories about your childhood as she could fit in the time of our absence. You don't want that, do you?"

My eyes widened. "I'll be going first." I said, rushing ahead of him.

* * *

I arrived just in time to hear my mother finish up a story about one of the times I avoided bathing as best and long as I could, during one of my weird kid phases.

I didn't want to bathe because Shisui said it'd seem more manly, and I had heard other kids say that dirt and grime on a man's body made them look really manly.

So of course, being the stupid kid I was, I thought I'd avoid baths to get that look.

I _literally_ ran away when Itachi tried to shove me into the bath, naked, around the compound. **(12)**

In the end, Mother convinced me I was fine the way I was, and that she loved me clean or not, but would feel better if I kept up proper hygiene and other stuff that I don't want to repeat. It was a nice talk, though.

Mom was apparently a last-resort card the others in the family used for me. As well as Itachi. Everyone knew that if anyone could convince me to do anything, it'd be them.

When she noticed me, she waved me over and I walked to her to receive a hug.

She opened her mouth to say something, but then we heard a knock on the front door.

"Who could that be?" My mother said, walking towards the door.

My father stopped her and moved on ahead himself, suspicious.

Cautiously, he opened the door and we found a small, cardboard box with a white letter attacked to it.

It said, "Sasuke" in a familiar handwriting. _No… it can't be!_

I immediately rushed to the box, picked it up, shut and locked the door, and sat on the couch.

I felt Sakura and Naruto sit on either side of me and my family move around me. Shisui looked over my shoulder.

I heard Kiba and Akamaru growl.

Tsume gasped and Hana did as well, muttering, "It can't be! It smells like-!"

That confirmed my suspicions.

I tore open the letter.

_Little Brother,_

_I left out the "foolish" part since it's your birthday. Enjoying it? I have a present for you._

I opened the cardboard box, continuing to read mentally as I did so.

_I thought you could brush up on your techniques. I'm sure it's been a while since you've played._

Inside was a small, thin, rectangular, wooden box. It was surrounded by bubble wrap to keep it from jostling inside the cardboard box. _I doubt this is…_

I took the small box in my hands, setting the now-void-of-present-cardboard-one on the ground beside me.

I opened it.

Everyone but my teammates (but _in_cluding Naruto) gasped, understanding the significance of what was in the case.

A bamboo flute.

Years ago, Hana had taught Shisui, Itachi, as well as Kiba, Naruto and I upon request, some instruments.

Itachi the clarinet, Shisui the saxophone, Kiba the drums, and I the flute. Naruto tried the drums, trumpet and guitar. I don't think he did very well on any of them.

She herself played many wind instruments, and the violin. Possibly some other instruments. For whatever reason.

I don't know why or how she did. Maybe she was bored growing up or something, but for whatever reason, she did.

She told me she helped teach the violin and a bit of the piano Hinata and Hanabi upon request of Hiashi. "They are instruments every noble should know", was what Hiashi had said.

However, she didn't know much about the drums so she let Kiba figure it out.

In the end, Shisui ended up knowing the guitar, drums, and the sax. Itachi had no trouble with any instrument he tried – Shisui said his second best was the piano, which Hana said she adored hearing him play.

Itachi's first best was the clarinet, and third was the flute, which he helped me with.

I wasn't too sure about Kiba, but I stuck with the flute, eventually moving on to favor wooden and bamboo ones. I knew a thing or two about the guitar and bass, though.

Naruto wasn't very music-oriented, so he didn't go very far on the instruments he chose. I think he did best on the trumpet or drums or something. _Fits… they're all very loud._

After the massacre, few of us had touched our instruments.

If we did, we didn't tell anyone.

So to see Itachi send me a bamboo instrument was a surprise. Not to mention, he somehow knew I didn't play anymore.

_Learn to play again. Next I see you I want you to be well-rounded. Well-rounded opponents are quite interesting in my opinion._

_I didn't poison this or anything, so relax. Think of it as a gift from your precious older brother._

His attempt at some kind of twisted humor made my blood boil._ In no way are you my brother!_

_That's all, I believe. _

_Enjoy your birthday, little brother. I have a feeling much will change soon, and I can't wait to see what effect it has on you._

That was it. No more.

I sat, frozen, as Shisui took the letter from my hand and read it aloud.

Afterward, Naruto explained to those who didn't know the significance between the flute and me.

As the others cleaned the table and the living room briefly, they took away the cardboard box, but left the flute case untouched in my lap.

I returned to the rest of the world when Sakura shook my shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun?" She whispered.

Respectfully, the others were looking away, trying to seem occupied.

I sighed, trying to calm my nerves.

I stood and pulled Sakura with me, placing the case on the table.

She matched my quick pace, understanding that I wanted to talk to her privately.

I took her to the backyard of the house, away from an angle we could be seen from inside.

Sakura pulled two chairs that the family kept outside to us so we could sit. She sat right next to me, taking my hands and un-clenching them.

I hadn't even noticed I had fisted them, much less so tightly that my knuckles were white and my nails cut into my palms.

"Calm yourself…" Sakura muttered softly as she healed my hands and wiped away the blood.

I took a couple deep breaths to calm myself. It was working, albeit slowly.

For some reason, to me, Sakura had a calming aura. I calmed enough to speak to her without yelling, screaming, or growling.

"What's his angle…?" I muttered. It was hard to believe I was opening up to her this much… bringing her here to talk about _Itachi_ of all people.

"I don't know." She said. "But I think, whatever he's planning, that the flute was a genuine present. Has he given you a present since…?"

I shook my head. "No. Never. Not Christmas, not any previous birthday, not anything. Not to anyone else, either. This is the first time." _Which was confusing enough._

"I would think that means something has changed in the way Ita-… _he_ regards you, or how he thinks he should deal with you. He appears to be in a perfectly stable state of mind, and he seems to be the type to do everything for a reason. So he _must_ have one this time."

I nodded, agreeing with her. _But what changed? How? And why? Why now?_

"Whatever it is, I think you should accept the gift and use it." I looked up at her in surprise.

"Disregarding who it's from, you have gotten a flute as a gift, and you know how to play. It wouldn't hurt to brush up on your skills. And what if, in your battle, Itachi may use some aspect of music against you, as odd as that sounds? Maybe that's why he wanted you to play again - he's going to use it against you. Maybe. I don't know for sure, but I think you should try for the sake of trying, no matter what anyone says. Did you enjoy playing it before?"

After I got over my shock of what she said, I relaxed again as she continued to rub circles in my palm, occasionally flipping my hands over to get the back of them and my knuckles. **_That feels good…_**

"I did like playing it…" I muttered. _I do miss playing…_

"Then play, if that's what you want."

"… I will." And just from this talk, I was completely calm again. Normally I'd be raging, but I wasn't.

Sakura pulled me up with her as she stood. "It's your birthday, Sasuke-kun. It shouldn't be a day to be angry; you should be enjoying it." She smiled.

We walked back to the house. "We should get back. The others are waiting." I said.

She nodded.

When we got back into the house, everyone was silent – seemed to have been since the letter – and looked at us expectantly.

We sat back on the couch, at our previous places. "Well? What next?" I questioned.

Everyone was shocked, but shook it off, deciding to leave the matter alone. They went back to chatting to each other, eating more cake, and cleaning up the present wrappings and trash.

* * *

**(1):** Ever had anyone tell you sugar gives you nightmares if you eat it before you sleep? Yeah.**  
(2): **No, he's not **planning** to defect or anything already. He's just being prepared - it's unlikely Itachi'll conveniently be in the village for their final fight and Sasuke knows this. He's just planning ahead for any scenario, is all. No plans to leave yet, guys.  
**(3): **Yup. The Uzumaki symbol. I don't remember why exactly it's on all the flak jackets - something about honoring all the help Uzushiogakure (was that the name?) gave before it was obliterated. Kishi better give some background on that country and how and why it was wiped out the way it was. It shouldn't be one of those things that you-think-would-be-important-but-apparently-isn't. **_Explain,_** please, Kishi.  
**(4): **That one filler ep in the Konoha History arc. Around Shippuden ep 294.  
**(5): **They both share fire and possibly blaze release, I know that much. I think they also share lightning release, too. Kakashi copies a lot of jutsu so I'm not sure which of them actually pertains to the chakra natures he has... Thank God for Narutopedia.  
**(6): **Don't own them but 3DG (Three Days Grace) is basically my favorite band.  
**(7): **Yamato, guys. That's supposed to represent Yamato.  
**(8): **Referring to the movie "Inception". I haven't seen the movie, but I more or less get "is it a dream or not?! Inception!" thing. **  
(9): **Sai is hinting at the fact that they're going to meet Yamato eventually, and he'll soon be a part of Team 7. But he's not here yet, so he made the Yamato reference in the painting a small one.**  
(10): **"It" is the "life" and "feelings" in Sai's paintings. I think Sai may have talked about "it" with Ino earlier, but I'm not sure if I did or not and I don't feel like checking. Sai lost 'it" as his emotions were lost growing up, but was slowly regaining "it" when he became friends with Naruto and Sakura. When they time-traveled, he was nearly back to Square 1. Sakura's saying "life" is coming back in his paintings. She continues to talk about it.**  
(11): **I make a lot 7 Deadly Sins references, don't I? I guess I'm just into stuff like that, sorta. And FMAB and FMA made me more into it... the Homunculi rock. As a whole, they may be my favorite villains. Yes, possibly surpassing the Akatsuki (mostly because I like more of the Homunculi, sorta), but just barely. I don't know... let's say they're tied.**  
(12): **There was a DA pic that showed a little Sasuke running around the manor naked with Itachi running behind him with his towel and his own slowly slipping off. I wanted to give you a link so you had an image, but I couldn't find it. I think it was by **byBlackRose.** I don't really remember...

**FLUTE LINKS:** /naruto/image/112157/sasuke-flute-screenshot/ ( )  
user/chatte_anger/media/Sakura051_ .html (photobucket)  
_**Just look up "Sasuke flute" on Google Images**_

**That's where the flute thing came from. I've been seeing pics like these for years.**

**Hope you liked it guys! But just because I updated early this time doesn't mean the schedule changed. I will be updating to Sundays from now like usual. **August 4th.

**QotW: **_I think I already asked about anime villains... um, what about favorite newer anime? Released no earlier than 2010. 2010-2013; new ones. There's a lot._

**Love ya'll!**

**REVIEW!**

**-Cherry**

**REVIEW!**


	17. Chapter 17: The Last Gift

**Sunday, August 4th, 2013.**

**Happy Birthday President Obama!**

School started for me. Sadly. On the 1st.

**Fun Fact: **_Um... I started school? I finally finished SAO?_

**Anime/Manga & Book Recommendation: **_Totally not in the mood. I dunno why. I just really don't want to do it. Sorry._

**Answer to last QotW: **_Um... between Psycho-Pass, Zetsuen no Tempest, and maybe SAO._

**Dedication: _TehNicksterBoi_**_, my friend. Go check out his stories._

**Disclaimer: **_Is the creator of Naruto highschool? No. I didn't think so._

**Nearly 3k words of SasuSaku, peeps. Enjoy it. **_  
_

**Even though I'm back in school, chances are, my updates will remain the same.**

**ATTENTION: **_I'm gonna do a Christmas chappy or two for DoOver, and I want ideas for presents BETWEEN pairings. Like Sasuke to Sakura, Sakura to Sasuke. Sai to Ino, Ino to Sai. Etc. So even if you're not reading it, I'd like ideas._

**Enjoy the romance.**

* * *

Chapter 17: The Last Present

* * *

**RECAP**

* * *

_When we got back into the house, everyone was silent –seemed to have been since the letter– and looked at us expectantly._

_We sat back on the couch, at our previous places. "Well? What next?" I questioned._

_Everyone was shocked, but shook out of it, deciding to leave the matter alone. They went back to chatting to each other, eating more cake, and cleaning up the present wrappings and trash._

* * *

**END OF RECAP**

* * *

**Sasuke POV**

A few moments later, my mother signaled me to follow her. I stood and walked toward her.

She pulled me into a hallway so the others wouldn't see us.

I expected her to say something about Itachi, but surprisingly, it was something completely different.

She gave me a kiss on the forehead. "I'm going tuck in now, honey. Shisui and Mura are going to sleep in his room. Naruto in his, and the others will use the guest rooms. But there isn't enough room for Sakura."

For the record, Naruto came over so much when we were younger, Mother eventually set up his own room here. It's not as personalized as his own in his apartment, but you could tell it's his.

Anyway. To more important matters.

"We should have enough. There are plenty of rooms."

Mother had a weird, forced, yet mischievous smile that she had when she planned something. Planning something the way mischievous and meddling mothers do. _I have a bad feeling…_

"The other rooms are in the other houses of the Compound. We haven't touched those houses."

I had forgotten. The main house, our house, wasn't _that_ big because it held the main family only and the Uchiha weren't famous for many children. We also tend not to like flashy things, even though we liked to show off.

Therefore, we didn't have the 20 guest rooms that celebrities have but never use. It's just completely unnecessary and a hassle.

"Can't she sleep with Hana, then?"

"Hana's sleeping in a twin bed. There's no way she could fit."

"So are you trying to tell me that she has to sleep with me?"

"Exactly that." The smile remained. **_I'm not objecting!_**

"Please explain your reasoning, Mother." I deadpanned. _Don't tell me…_

"I don't quite trust Kakashi, Naruto-chan, nor Kiba-kun with Sakura sleeping with them. Tsume is a sometimes violent sleeper, and her bed is too small. So is Sai's, and I doubt she'd be all that comfortable sleeping with him. And she can't sleep on the couch."

"Naruto could. Let her have his room." Mom's eyes narrowed.

"The point is, she's sleeping with you and that's final. I left something she could sleep in on your bed, dear. I trust you with her." Her tone was the one she used that showed there was no room for argument.

I sighed. "Fine."

Though she leaned in close and whispered. "I know she's a pretty girl and your hormones should be raging by now, but I trust you anyways. I know how you are. As you mother and all."

She winked at my mortified expression when she pulled away. "You care too much about her to do anything. Not to mention, you have the steel self-control of an Uchiha."

She patted my cheek and kissed the other, leaving to go up the stairs.**(1)** "Goodnight, honey."

* * *

I stood frozen in the hallway until Shisui walked passed by me with Mura and clapped me on the shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked. Then, he shook his head. "Never mind, I don't really care anyway."

"What a loving cousin you are," I deadpanned, my shock beginning to wear off.

"The best," he gloated. "Anyway, Mura-chan and I are going to sleep now, 'kay? I assume Mom did, too."

I nodded.

"Goodnight, Sasuke-kun!" Mura called over her shoulder as she and Shisui ascended up the stairs.

I walked out of the hallway and my father went passed me, leaving a, "Goodnight, son."

I took a seat on the couch as the other adults, Hana, Kakashi and Tsume, went to sleep as well.

"What were you doing in the hallway?" Kiba asked.

"Mom was going to sleep." He mouthed an "oh" and nodded.

"So what now?" Naruto asked. "I highly doubt any of us are going to sleep, too."

I thought for a moment. "What about video games? We can play down here because we'd probably disturb the others if we play in my room."

"Okay. What games do you have?" Sakura asked, as she and the others followed me to the TV across the room for the controllers and games. I turned the TV on.

"These. I don't feel like getting the others upstairs." I spread them out. "I have 3 controllers, so if we all want to play, we'll have to take turns."

"How do you play video games?" Sai asked.

Everyone froze.

That is, until Naruto broke it with an exaggerated, dramatic gasp. "You've never played?! You poor, deprived _child!"_

Sai shook his head. "I grew up in ROOT, remember? Such things would be unnecessary distractions."

Kiba slapped him on the back, grinning. "Then we're gonna teach you!"

While they were dealing with that, Sakura and I picked a game to play.

"Alright, who's going first? I should, since it's my house, my game, my controllers, and my birthday. Actually, I think I should play every turn. Who else?" I slipped the game in.

Surprisingly, no one (aka, Kiba and Naruto) protested about my playing every turn, but the aforementioned No Ones (must I spell it out to you?) broke out into an argument after both wanting to play. Sai and Sakura wanted to as well.

To calm them, Sakura suggested Rock-Paper-Scissors for the remaining four to play to decide who plays. "Best two out of three. Whoever wins in your pair plays first."

They did.

In the end, it was Kiba and Sai. Sakura instructed Sai on the mechanics of the controller and how to play this particular game, guiding him while we played. _Better her than Naruto._

For whatever reason, my stomach clenched as I watched Sakura lean over Sai's shoulder, and sometimes lay her hands over his to guide his fingers while we played and she taught. **_Jealous~…_**

_Not._

Naruto was sulking on the couch, waiting for the game to be over so he could play, too.

Finally, we were done and the line-up was Sakura, Naruto, and myself. **_The Golden Trio! _**_(2)_

_That's Harry Potter._

**_So? We're a cool, trio, too. I need to think up of a name for the quartet we become with Sai…_**

_... Dumbass…_

"I'm gonna kick your ass, Teme!" Naruto said as we started.

"In your dreams, Dobe," I replied.

"I'm gonna kick both your asses if you don't pay proper attention." Sakura commented.**(3)**

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan! Will you kiss me if I win?" Naruto pleaded. I scowled, irritated. _Stupid little-…_

Then, it occurred to me he was teasing, since we all know he's no longer into Sakura like that.**(4)** I felt a bit better.

**_You're never going to admit you're jealous, are you?_**

_I won't because I'm not._

"Hell no!"

I felt even better with her harsh, blatant refusal. **_You're hopeless._**

"Aw, Sakura-chan! That hurt…"

"Like I care."

_This is gonna be fun._

* * *

I yawned as Sakura and I walked to my room. The others had already gone to their respective rooms.

Earlier, I explained to Sakura what my mom had said about her sleeping with me.

There was polite I'm-fine-on-the-couch protest, but obviously, it failed.

When we entered the room and turned on the lights, we found a pink nightgown on my bed. Sakura walked over to it as I locked my door.

Don't get any ideas – I've grown a habit of doing that since I was 7 and got sick of Shisui pranking me in my sleep and leaving "surprises" for me in the morning.

"Must be for me." Sakura said. I nodded.

She picked it up and headed for my private bathroom. "I'm gonna change, okay?"

I nodded.

* * *

A couple moments later I had changed out of my clothes, remaining only in boxers and pajama pants, sans a shirt. I lay in my bed under the covers. _It's too hot for a shirt. It's July, for Heaven's sake._

Sakura came out of the bathroom in the nightgown, her clothes in a pile in her hand.

I pointed to my desk, signaling that she could put them there. She understood.

The nightgown was pink, spaghetti-strapped, and had blue ruffles.**(5)**

It didn't look… inappropriate or anything. My mother wouldn't do that.

No matter how much she wanted to set me up, I was still her (now) 14-year-old, "baby boy".

It actually looked pretty… _cute_, on her. Don't tell anyone I said that, though.

She had a small blush on her face, obviously not accustomed to such a thing. Not to mention, she had to sleep in it _next to me _**in my bed**. Refusing it would be rude. The only other option was a shirt of mine, anyway, and it probably wouldn't cover much more.

"It feels a bit weird to wear, but I like it. It's cute." She said as she walked around the bed to her side. For some reason, she stopped before she went all the way around, instead going to the door and plucking something off of it.

She walked over to the bed, reading it even as she sat down.

"What is it?" I asked.

"A sticky note your mother left." Sakura explained. "It says I could keep the nightgown."

_Alright, then._

I stretched yawned. Sakura placed the note on the bedside table next to her and climbed into bed, pulling the blankets over her shoulder. I turned the lights off from the switch above my head.

Then, suddenly, she leaped up, threw the blankets off, and walked quickly to my desk.

"What are you doing?!" I asked, alarmed, flicking the light back on. _What the hell?!_

"I almost forgot! Your present!" She exclaimed, picking it up from the desk and walking over to the bed.

_Oh._

**_She nearly gave me a heart attack!_**

I sat up and swept my legs over the side of the bed, letting them rest there as I sat.

She picked up the bag and sat beside me.

"It's not much, but I hope it'll be of use to you," she said, taking a book out of the bag.

It was almost the size of a textbook, and a hardcover.

_Shinobi Tips and Techniques Vol. 1_ was the title. My eyes widened. _No way!_

I turned to her. "I thought you could only get this if you had the clearance of a chunin or jounin." I said.

Every time I tried to buy this, I was told I had to at least be a chunin or jounin or something higher to buy it, even if you were buying it for someone else that had said status.

Same goes for borrowing it from the library – Chunin or above clearance only. Period.

_So how'd she get this?_

She blushed under my intense stare. "I convinced Hokage-sama is all..."

I was about to ask _how_, but I decided that she probably wouldn't answer me anyway.

And that some things are also better left unknown.

That didn't mean I still didn't _want_ to know, though.

"But he had a condition." She said.

"Which was?" I asked. _A condition? Well, I guess she had to do __**something**__ in return to getting such a book._

"That I teach you the basics of medical ninjutsu." I blinked. _Really?_

"But what if I can't use it?" I remember her telling me that some people were just incapable of using it. Or, even if they were, the most some could do was the very basics and no further, which explains why there are much less medical ninjas than combat. Aside from reasons of preference, of course.

"Then I teach you more advanced first-aid." I shrugged. _Sounds okay either way._

"It's beneficial that you at least know first aid in case something happens. Especially if your ambition brings you into unexpected situations…" she said, her voice trailing off. Her eyes darkened, and she seemed almost… sad. _Why?_

I was about to ask her when she suddenly snapped out of the trance she was in and turned back to me. "I'm sorry that this wasn't really special or anything… you're kinda hard to buy things for…" I agreed with her on the latter part. It _would_ be hard to buy me something.

"It's fine." I said, turning the book over. I noticed that where there was usually a price sticker, there was only the small white remains of one, as if it was scratched off.

Then, I remembered something.

This book was pretty damn expensive. _Like around 100 bucks and over, __**on sale**__ – college textbook price, almost. How'd she pay for this? WHY would she pay for this?_

**_Because she cares about you. I told you – girls will do a lot for the guys they like._**

I ignored him and spoke out anyway. "How much did you pay for this?" I said. It wasn't a question – it was a demand.

She looked away, mumbling… "Like thirty bucks or less… not that much for a book of that size…"

I narrowed my eyes. "Tell me the truth Sakura – you and I both know that it was expensive."

She looked at me a moment, as if planning to try lying to me again. Then, she sighed, giving up – she couldn't fool me.

"It was originally $145 dollars…"

My eyes widened… _What?!_

"And luckily for me that was how much it was on sale. The normal price is $215. It was nearly 30% off."

"… you paid $145 for this **_book_**?"

"I'm serious about books!" She protested. "But you're right – even I wouldn't spend much unless I _needed_ it."

"But you didn't."

"I know you wanted it a lot, though."

"You can't possibly be saying you paid that much for my sake."

"I didn't, relax."

Alright. I was confused.

"How, then?"

"I paid $55, almost one third of what I would have otherwise. Hokage-sama let me do so, paying for the rest, with a condition. Which I already told you."

"But still, that's…" _It's quite a bit of money, but it's also hard to believe that's all she had to do. Is she not telling me something?_

Sakura shrugged, understanding what I was trying to say. "Favoritism? He also told me to keep a close eye on Naruto, and we all know how tough that is. Compensation, maybe?"

"Are you not telling me something?" I asked. _What's she not telling me? _

I couldn't shake the feeling that she was leaving something out…

She jumped, looking surprised. But hesitated and confirmed my suspicions. "N-no! I told you already."

I narrowed my eyes.

She rolled hers. "Fine, maybe he _did_ ask me to do something else. But it's none of your concern."

_Well, yeah, it kinda is because you did it for me,_ I remarked in my head.

Sakura yawned, reminding me that we should get to sleep.

"Let's sleep now, alright? We can start your training whenever you want. Just let me know."

I nodded, placing the book on the desk and turning off the lights when I climbed back in the bed.

We both crawled in bed.

She scooted a bit close to me so she wouldn't fall of the bed if she decided to turn over in her sleep, since she was at the edge before.

My bed is queen sized, so while we could both fit alright, it's not big enough for us to be very far away from each other. We were less than a foot away from the other, but I don't think either of us really minded.

I was comfortable with Sakura – she was a good, close friend. And she is very calming to me, proven when she calmed me down so quickly after _his_ present.

We all know what Sakura thinks of me to some extent.

I turned over to lay on my right side, my back to Sakura. She was facing it.

"Goodnight, Sasuke-kun. Happy birthday." She said, sleepiness seeping into her voice.

"Goodnight, Sakura. And thank you. Really…" I was honestly thankful to her. _I owe her so much…_

**_And I'm sure she doesn't care about compensation. She's kind like that…_**

"You're welcome, Sasuke-kun…" she mumbled, sleep making her words slur slightly. "I'm here for you, 'kay?"

_Thank you, Sakura._

We drifted off to sleep.

It was a good sleep. Great, really.

One of the best I had in a long time.

Sometime in the night, Sakura had ended up sleeping against chest and I had my arms around her. We were so close to each other…

And for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to mind.

That doesn't mean either of us told anyone in the morning. Or anyone period.

Because that's a secret between us, for however long until one of us (Sakura, if at all; God knows I won't) breaks our silence. _I don't think Sakura will though… even if Ino tries to pry it out of her._

But for now, I was content.

* * *

**(1): **_There's a second flight of stairs in that hallway - not the main one that the others have used before._**  
(2): **_The fact that the original Team 7 was the second line-up wasn't on purpose, I swear. It just happened, and I realized it afterward._  
**(3): **_Reminds me of the "I'm gonna be Hokage!" shiz a couple chapters ago, when Sakura coined in her own 2 cents about the Hokage buzz._**  
(4): **_I don't know if I went over this already, but Naruto's moving on past Sakura after her insistence on doing so. She doesn't want him to fall into unrequited love with her again. It hurt him enough the first time, a second is just cruel. Especially when someone else loves him._**  
(5): **_Just felt like it. Here, take a look, it's really cute: : **/ / w w w . sammydress .c m / product 95185 . h t m l**. Add the "o" between c and m._

**ATTENTION:**

I'm gonna do a Christmas chappy or two for DoOver, and I want ideas for presents BETWEEN pairings. Like Sasuke to Sakura, Sakura to Sasuke. Sai to Ino, Ino to Sai. Etc. So even if you're not reading it, I'd like ideas.

**QotW: **_Favorite couples? From any anime. Preferably not Naruto, but if (one of) your OTP(s) is from Naruto, (like me), fine._

**Love,**

**Cherry.**


	18. Chapter 18: Meanwhile

**Saturday, August 17th, 2013.**

**I'm updating today because I don't think I'll have time to tomorrow. I'm going to a wedding after church, so...**

**I'm fudging. Exhausted. Like, really-tiring-to-type-and-talk exhausted. Spent six hours volunteering for my church's Golden Agers lunch thing that we do for the seniors of my church.**

**It was fun, a good thing to do, but it's been a while since I was this tired after doing something like this.**

**Fun Fact: **_I'm not a fan of coconut products. I hate coconut milk, coconut "meat" (meat comes from an animal, IMO - coconut "meat" should have a different name) and I can barely tolerate coconut shavings. The amount they put on Samoas (as in, Girl Scout cookies) is basically my limit. Other than that, I really don't like coconut products. Now why coconuts today? The church thing had a "luau" theme._

**Dedication: **_My friends _**Jasmine-.-Momo-chan**_,_** aalc95**_,_** TehNicksterboi**_, and_** sora girlfriend**_.And the awesome_** White Tiger of Onyx Star**_._

**AotW (as coined by White** **Tiger): **_LuchiaxKaito (from Mermaid Melody) was one of my first OTPs ever. I love them so much. SasuSaku is another - I was crazy about them when I was younger. That was one of the few things I did - watch SasuSaku videos on YouTube. I still love them, but I also have other anime and stuff, and fanfiction fulfills my cravings. Mostly. Um, what else... UsuixMisaki (Maid-sama!) I guess, but compared to the others, they aren't as big. HaruxElie! From Rave Master. Man, I loved them, too. I think that's enough for now._**  
**

**Recommendations: **_Did I already tell you guys how tired I was? I'm sorry for doing this to you guys nearly every week, but honestly, I'm tired enough to just crash unto my computer _right _**now.**_

**Disclaimer: IDNON.**_  
_

**_ATTENTION:_  
**

I'd like more Christmas ideas, guys. Thanks.

**This is a shorter chapter - a little over 2.5k words, not including A/Ns. Incl8;uding A/Ns: almost 3.5k.**

**Enjoy, though.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Meanwhile...

* * *

**A few weeks since Sasuke's birthday**

* * *

**Temari POV**

_**"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!"**_

I groaned, hitting the "Off" button on my alarm, sitting up and climbing out of bed.

"Another day… damn, I wanna go back and sleep," I said.

But I knew I couldn't, so I forced myself to the bathroom to take a shower. Normally I wasn't this sleepy and lazy in the morning. _Damn Nara… he's rubbed off on me._

I tended to blame my problems on him, regardless of whether or not it made any sense to. Made me feel a bit better.

I held my hand under the shower head. "Finally, it's hot."

I stripped down and stepped into the tub, under the steaming, roaring, water.**(1)**

* * *

**20 minutes later**

* * *

I walked down the stairs to find Matsuri already fixing breakfast up in the kitchen.

In case you were wondering, do you guys remember how Matsuri's parents were killed in a bandit raid?**(2)**

Well, in this time line, they were killed earlier, when she was like, 9, I think, and she lived on the streets till she was almost 12.

We've seen her around town over the years, and apparently a lot on the playground for Gaara when he was younger, and he seemed to tolerate her well enough.

She offered to cook, clean, etc., for us in return for room and board. She didn't even ask for money – she just needed a place to live and eat.

We gave her a week trial – she passed.

With flying colors. _She's a natural housewife-that-isn't-actually-a-wife._

Over the years, she had gradually become a member of the family-that-we-don't-really-have, and a friend. Even Baki liked her and her work efficiency well enough, even though he has his own place to live at.

He has a room here, and since he's our team leader, we see him nearly every day, but most of the time, he's living at his own apartment.

We relieved her of the job part of the deal and decided just let her live with us, but she continued to do chores and most of the cooking anyway.

Not that we mind – less work for us.

For _me,_ really – Kankuro hardly does anything and same goes for Gaara.

But Gaara's different because… he's Gaara.

Fun fact: Matsuri's cookies are ambrosia. As in, food of the gods. They're fucking delicious.

Gaara loves them, too, even! He's actually the one that seems to like them the most.

Which is why he wouldn't let her leave if she tried. _And proves he functions like a normal person in some areas._

"Good morning, Tema," she greeted, with a usual smile on her face.

My eyes narrowed. "How the hell are you so perky in the morning?"

Another smile and a shrug. "Just a morning person, I guess."

I rolled my eyes.

"Watcha cookin'?" I asked as I looked in the fridge.

"Bacon and eggs."

"Portions?"

"Two eggs for you and Kankuro since you burn more calories and stuff, then 1 for Gaara and I because we burn less.**(3)** Or 1 ½ if he wants. No more than that, though. Too much cholesterol isn't good for anybody. Oh, and then 3 slices of bacon for everybody. These are thicker than the ones I normally buy."

I nodded, liking the sound of it. "Got it."

_So what to eat then? Cereal? Toast? Something Japanese? Nah… I feel Western today. Frozen waffles?_

I opened the freezer half of the fridge.

I frowned seeing the disaster zone. _There's no way in hell that I'm going to look for them through that mess.._

"Remind me to reorganize it…" I muttered. _It was probably Kankuro's fault, too… maybe I can push him to do it…_

"Nah, I'll do it."

"Fuck no. You're not the maid. I need to do stuff, too."

"You already do. It's the boys who do little."

"Still."

I gave her a glare, and she sighed. "Fine. I'll let you do it."

I smirked at my win.

Which is not really a win because it's work. _Kinda lame._

"Mornin', Mats."**(4)** Kankuro said, entering the kitchen, using that stupid nickname. "Is that bacon and eggs I smell?"

Another smile of hers. "Yup!"

His tired face, void of make-up, (you can tell how tired he is in the morning if he bothered to put up his make-up on [war/clan paint, my ass] and how well he did it if he put it on) lightened up at the thought off the delicious food.

"Sweet!" He turned to the pantry.

"We still have some maple and brown sugar oatmeal, right?" Kankuro is practically addicted to oats, I swear. I've never understood it.

I was cool with it, growing up, because at least they're healthy, right?

But still.

Kankuro's favorite breakfast food? Oatmeal. (Maple and brown sugar is his favorite flavor.)

Favorite snack? Granola bars.

Favorite cookie? Oatmeal. With raisins.

_Weirdo._

"I think there's only enough for your breakfast this morning. I'm going grocery shopping when you all leave, so I'll be sure to pick it up. Put it on the list anyway, though. Anything you need, Temari? Gaara?"

At the mention of Gaara, Kankuro and I swiveled to find our little brother standing in front of the island at the center of the kitchen, sand swirling around him.

It was all we could do to not jump. _I'll never get over how he does that! It drives me nuts!_

"Um…" I started, trying to answer Matsuri's question after being startled, as usual, by my youngest brother. "I, uh, ran out of my large pack of M&M's. I just want regular, please." I said. _M&M's are heaven._

"'Kay. Put 'em on the list." I did.

I decided to start my breakfast. _What to eat, what to eat… God bless that I can actually say that._

I'm not really religious or anything, and I've rarely been to a church in my life, but I believe _something _or _someone_ is up there.

And besides – it really _is_ a blessing to able to ponder what the hell you want to eat because you have so many choices.

If there's one thing I want my brothers to know from growing up, it's being grateful of what you have.

Now… away from such serious and somber topics and back to the whole food scenario.

Then, it hit me. _Why not oatmeal?_

"Kanks, get me my oatmeal," I called to my brother.

"Don't call me 'Kanks' and I will."

"_Kanky_, get me my oats."

"Temari…" he said warningly. Not that it was much of a threat to me.

... But then again, finding a freaky mask or puppet in your room staring at you creepily in the middle of the night is fucking scary. _I guess I'll comply with his wishes then._

I rolled my eyes. "_Kankuro_, get me my oatmeal."

"What flavor? Or do you want to mix them?"

I thought. "Just two apple cinnamon ones."

"Catch." He tossed them to me.

"Want something from the pantry, Gaara?" Kankuro asked, a bit cautious. _We always have to be careful with Gaara…_

"Fruit Loops." _One of Heaven's gifts. Those are fucking good, no matter how old you are. But this makes me think Gaara's still a little childish… which he is, being emotionally stunted and all, but still._

"I'll eat them dry as usual." **(5)**

"Will you drink milk separately then, Gaara?"

Matsuri was one of the only few who can question Gaara with little to no punishment. I don't know how, she just calms him, kinda.

Don't think he always gave her special treatment and never hurt her or anything, because that's not true.

He's actually broken a few of her bones sometimes, and almost suffocated her to death, but he's done worse to Kankuro and I.

… Wait.

Okay, now that I think about it, that's still special treatment. Well, she's always been nice to him and all… never seemed to be afraid of him… maybe Gaara developed a softer part for her or something…

Anyway, she can make Gaara do stuff, to an extent. Like drink milk every morning – she has this thing about drinking it at least once every morning. Apparently, that's what her mom used to do.

"… Yes." Gaara responded.

"Good." She smiled.

She prepared plates and placed our eggs and bacon on them, patting them down with a paper towel to get extra grease off, and giving them to us.

"Breakfast is served!"

* * *

**Karin POV**

"No… no… no… yeah, that one looks nice…" I muttered to myself as I shifted through the pictures I took on the cheapest camera I was able to afford.

I discovered, after seeing Konoha for the first time, that photography is something in which I'd take interest.

I wanted so badly to take pictures of all the green and browns and reds and yellows, I could barely contain myself! It was so pretty and colorful… I hadn't seen anything like it.

Sure, Grass Country is very green (the name is self-explanatory) but it doesn't have the light, welcome, vibe Konoha does, which makes a huge difference.

And Konoha has more colors and hues and shades and contrasts.

I quickly became obsessed with taking pictures of other stuff, too.

So, I saved up some money from missions after I got to the past and tried to get this camera.

Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time to save up money because the douchebags-otherwise-known-as-my-teammates screw up everything for me on purpose. Unlike me, they don't have to support themselves completely on their own – their _sophisticated_ and _cool_ mommies and daddies gave them everything they needed.

Needing all the ninja they can get, Grass doesn't accept a certain number of teams that graduate their ninja academy to become genin – if you pass, you're a ninja. Period.

So it's no wonder those clowns of "teammates" of mine are actual ninja, even though they're just genin. There's no way those spoiled brats will pass the Chunin Exams.

_The Chunin Exams…_

The last and only Chunin Exams I'd ever been in was the same one Sasu-… the same one that Naruto kid and that Sakura girl competed in.

I'd only gotten as far as The Forest of Death, where Sasuke saved me from a giant bear and where I first felt affection for him.**(6)**

A little later, I ran into Orochimaru and he recruited me. I joined him, of course.

If I remember right, Sasuke didn't pass either, so we were both genin when traveling, now that I think about it.

How do I feel about him now? I'm sure you're wondering.

Do I love him? No.

The Future Me may forgive him and shit for whatever reason, but the Present Me decided to take the hint and move on.

As much as I may have loved him, (not nearly as much as that Sakura girl, I'm sure) it's not worth wasting my life for him.

Now, I'm here to save the world while preventing him from doing stupid mistakes that will lead to a lot of problems the future has.

Okay, maybe I'm being bitter – it's not really his fault.

Tobi/Obito would definitely declared war on the world eventually. Sasuke just sped up the whole process and made things a bit more complicated, being the perfect pawn.

_Ugh… I almost miss Suigetsu and his antics right now… it kept me from being bored._

I put the camera back down and laid down on my bed in the rusty, old, apartment I lived in. _And people wondered why I left with Orochimaru…_

Something you should know: I'm trying to let go of my loyalty for Orochimaru and develop into a new person, as cheesy as that sounds.

It's time I created my own person, not blindly chasing something and relying on it for everything – whether it be romance-related or a master or whatever.

The fact that Orochimaru is a crazy, sadistic, psychopath makes the whole become-an-Oreo-hater (I'm talking about Orochimaru and mean no offense to the cookies, not that I like them anyway) so much easier.

But it really is difficult to forget something you followed and idolized so much before. _Again, that sounds like Sasuke…_

See? I'm moving past him, too. Did you notice I didn't add a "-kun" to his name?

_Suigetsu would be great right now… I could let out my frustrations on him as much as I wanted._

I kinda almost miss that guy.

Almost.

I hated him, but he was fun.

And we, Team Taka, were all friends for a little while, or so I'd like to think… before the Land of Iron…

_I'll even admit Suigetsu's kinda cute, despite the whole shark teeth thing…_

My face reddened.

Don't get any ideas! I don't like Suigetsu or anything. _Not at all! I hate that bastard!_

But a small part of me that wasn't _completely_ disgusted at the idea of liking Suigetsu (which I don't) sighed. _"Are we masochistic or something?"_ it said.

_"Must we go for guys that we hate, hurt us, or will never like us back?" _it continued.

_Well, if you include Suigetsu, which I don't, it's only two guys. But yeah… I see that point. _The rest of me said.

And now that I thought about it, we might just be a tad masochistic. The Heal Bite and the pleasure I get from it… it doesn't only happen with Sasuke, it's just accented greatly with Sasuke because I was a crazy fangirl and in love with him. _Nah… that's not masochism. That's an actual effect of the Heal Bite._

But part of me still thinks I'm a bit masochistic, which totally sucks. Maybe I'm emotionally masochistic or something… I don't like physical pain or stuff like that… there's a reason I have Heal Bite.

I wanted to avoid the hospital **_that _**_badly_. **(7)**

Back to the Chunin Exams…

_I'll have to avoid Orochimaru for sure… should I try to meet up with Sakura and the others that time traveled before the Exams while I'm in the village?_

I looked at the scroll that we each have. _I could always use this…_

I put it down. _I'll leave that for later. _

I turned over on my stomach and picked up my camera again, ready to filter through and delete some pictures I didn't think were good enough.

I barely got through two pictures when there was an obnoxious, hard knock on my front door.

"Hey, Bitch! Get out here! We're gonna train!"

_Stupid teammate…_

I turned off the camera, getting my ninja gear.

"Too afraid to embarrass yourself in front of us, Karin? Or are you _chicken_?"

_Jerk. I couldn't have gotten ready that fast, you dimwit._

A couple moments later, whilst ignoring taunts and insults, I was ready and at the door.

"'Bout time!"

I rolled my eyes and closed the door.

"You better not embarrass us in the Chunin Exams! We've only got a few weeks to prepare."

"Of course," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Your Highness."

The idiot actually smirked, not detecting my sarcasm. "That's more like it! That's how it should be – worthless shit like you that nobody cares about, treating people like us, loved by everyone and important, like royalty." _They continue to surprise me with how egotistical, stupid, and low they can get…_

"Exactly! Couldn't have put it better, Jai." The other said.

"I'm just brilliant that way, Nuwe." Jai said to his friend.

They were cousins, by the way. Not that you'd care.

I took breaths to calm myself, fisting my hands tightly, keeping my face as impassive as I could. It was working pretty, well, too. _Looks like something useful came from stalking Sasuke all the time._

"Hurry up, peasant!" Nuwe said.

I hurried.

_Man, I can't wait for the Chunin Exams. Then, maybe I can ditch these bastards for good._

* * *

**(1): **It's one of those showers with a tub AND shower head. Just in case that needed explaining.**  
(2): **In canon, at least the arc at the end of Part 1, that actually happened. And apparently, she had actually witnessed it. Her parents being killed. Poor Matsuri... Ooh! I could use that as angst material! (Sorry - writer's mind here)**  
(3): **How many calories do you think Gaara burns? Especially in Part 1? The guy hardly moves - most of what he burns is probably from his chakra rather than actual phsyical activity. My dad gives my sis and I a limit to how many eggs we can eat a day because it has a lot of cholesterol and we don't burn enough to keep it off. So he and Matsuri eat slightly differently than Temari and Kankuro for the you-burn-less reason.**  
(4): **Pronounced like the nickname Sakura's given in fanfics - "Saks". The same pronunciation of the "a" applies here.**  
(5): **Eating cereal dry isn't weird, alright? I personally am weird with cereal - Fruit Loops is eaten dry, Cheerios with cold milk and no sugar, Frosted Flakes or Corn Flakes with either warm or cold milk and sugar. Period. That's it. Weird, right?**  
(6): **That actually happened. That's how she first met Sasuke.**  
(7): **Mostly true. I think she was born with Heal Bite, but however she obtained it, she uses it to desperately avoid the hospital. She hates it.

**ATTENTION:**

_I still want those Christmas ideas. Thanks._

**Question of the Week: **_Favorite sport(s)?_

**Love,**

**Cherry.**


End file.
